Path to Dawn
by Illidan the Half Demon
Summary: The Four Lands of Japan have fallen into a war with the Eastern and Southern Lands taking up arms against the Northern and Western Lands.  Can the West and North return peace, or will tyranny reign over Japan forever more?  Sequel to Descending Twilight
1. Chapter 1: Sadness and Plans

**Hey everyone. So, here is the sequel to **_**Descending Twilight**_**. This story will most definitely be longer than DT was, but how much longer, I'm not sure. No way near as long as **_**Another**_** was, but longer than the two sequels that followed after it. At any rate, I'm hoping that everyone likes this story. DT didn't seem to earn many reviews from anyone, other than my favorite reviewer Kattana. It was a bit discouraging, but oh well, it happens.**

**Disclaimers: I do not own Inuyasha or any other animes.**

**Special thanks to all the following authors for allowing me to borrow names of things from them.**

**DemonGirl-Setsuna: My main character's name.**

**Yukina-Raven: Name of my main character's sword.**

**Hope to hear from all of you soon in a review or PM. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 1**

"Damn it, why does there always have to be so much paperwork!"

Standing up from his desk and moving over to look out the window while silently cursing to himself was a dog hanyou with midnight black hair pulled back into a long ponytail that reached just below his butt, two black dog ears that were twitching a top his head, clawed hands, two jagged purple stripes that adorned both his cheeks, and muddy brown eyes. His clothing consisted of a fine black kimono top and pants held together by a white obi sash, with a large white dog flying over a village embroidered into the kimono top. Tapping his foot on the floor a few times and hearing the sound of his boots beat against it, he returned his attention to the outside. Resting against the wall near his low desk was a sword within a polished black sheath. It had a single ring of green near the top of the sheath, with the hilt being wrapped in green cloth and the guard being circular and golden.

Raising a clawed hand up and running it down his face, he let out a heavy sigh before turning to look at his low desk. A stack of papers sat on the left side of it that measured at least a foot tall. On the right side of the desk, a bottle of ink with a calligraphy brush sitting next to the bottle, still wet with ink. Behind the desk, several pillows sat about, with some against the wall to give the hanyou more comfort.

Rubbing his temples soothingly, the hanyou muttered "Why in the hell did I ever agree to help Sesshomaru out with this? I should have known better than to willingly agree. Especially since it looks like it's going to be a beautiful afternoon."

Releasing a heavy sigh, he sat back down onto the pillows on his knees and picked up his calligraphy brush. Dipping it gently into the ink, he reached for the next paper from the stack and laid it in front of himself. Drawing the brush from the ink and making sure not to have too much within it, he began to sign a document from the stack, only to be interrupted mid-stroke by hurried knocking on the door to his office.

"Lord Iya!"

Recognizing the voice from the door as his personal servant, Iya heavily sighed once more and felt a bit frustrated, but relieved, to be disturbed again. Placing the brush back onto his desk, he smoothly said "You may enter, Momo."

Sliding the door open in a rush, a female half wolf and half dog demon stepped in hurriedly. Her usually well kept black hair that was typically in a bun coved by a cloth was instead loose and reaching down to her shoulders in length. Panting slightly, she stared at him with fear within her normally tranquil brown eyes. Her fine black kimono revealed, but hid at the same time, her petite body.

"Lord Iya, you are needed at the gate! It's … It's…"

Concerned by the hybrid demoness's inability to tell him what was wrong, the hanyou stood and grabbed his sword. Placing it within his obi, he strode over to his servant and placed a hand on her shoulder. In a calm tone, he said "Calm down, Momo. What has happened?"

Fighting back tears that were welling up in the corners of her eyes, Momo weakly whimpered before murmuring "It's your younger brother, Lord Iya."

Eyes widening a fraction, the hanyou didn't wait for any further explanation before he suddenly broke into a nearly full speed sprint out the door and down the hallways of the Western Stronghold. Passing several demons, he raced to the outside and towards the main gate. Reaching it in only a few minutes, he saw several soldiers returning, with four carrying a stretcher.

Laying on the stretcher was his younger half brother. His brother's normally pristine white hair that reached his butt in length was dyed crimson in places from the blood escaping his numerous wounds and a bit matted. The red top and pants made from the pelt of a fire rat was cut and torn in several places, revealing his porcelain colored skin, decorated with wounds as blood oozed out of them. His face sported several cuts and shallow gashes.

"Inuyasha!" Iya yelled out as he reached the stretcher and reached in to touch the side of his brother's neck. Finding a faint pulse, he quickly declared "Get him into the stronghold and to Kiyomi immediately!"

Grabbing one of the remaining soldiers roughly as he was trying to pass by, the dog hanyou snarled out "What happened out there!"

Visibly shaken by the demand made upon him, the soldier, a young raccoon dog with short brown hair and purple eyes winced slightly as he looked at the hanyou. The young demon was clutching a wound on the arm that the hanyou had grabbed and winced as he looked away.

"I asked you a question soldier, now answer!"

Looking up, but trying not to stare into the eyes of the hanyou, the demon quietly replied "We were ambushed by the Southern Forces on our way to the village we were to liberate. It was as if they were waiting for us. There was no chance for us to know the attack was coming. We were completely outnumbered by the enemy, at least three to one."

Pausing momentarily, he added "However, Lord Inuyasha turned the tide. Under his leadership, we were able to take down nearly three-fourths of the enemy's forces and liberated the village. But it was costly."

"I'm sure you noticed, of the one hundred of us that left out, only twenty-six of us returned, including Lord Inuyasha. We would have all died if he hadn't taken the fight to the enemy. He was badly wounded during his charge on them, but he kept going. That alone gave the remainder of us the courage and determination to help fight and win the battle. Once it was over, Lord Inuyasha passed out from his wounds. The villagers tried to help him, but they had no healer, so we hurriedly brought him back here."

During the raccoon dog demon's recount of the events of the battle, Iya clenched and unclenched his hands into tight fists. He had clenched them so tightly that his palms started bleeding from where his claws had dug into them. Hearing the splashing sound of blood hitting the ground, he refrained from clenching them, but couldn't help but feel his anger rising.

Taking a calming breath, the hanyou tersely said "You may go. Thank you."

Bowing to the hanyou, the young soldier quickly fled from his sight, leaving the hanyou standing alone near the front gate. Remaining in the same place for several minutes, he finally took a deep breath and trudged back to the stronghold. Walking quickly to his office, he shut the door quietly and leaned back against it. Releasing a ragged sigh, he looked over to the nearby bookshelf that housed thousands of scrolls. Hesitantly, he walked over to it and searched for a few moments until finally finding the scroll he sought.

Sitting down at his desk, Iya unrolled the scroll and quickly read over it. Nodding his head to silently acknowledge the words in the scroll, he stood back up and headed down the hallway to where he knew his personal servant would be.

Stepping into a room where Momo and a few other servants were cleaning the floor with scrub brushes, the hanyou cleared his throat, earning her attention. All of the servants immediately were to their feet and bowing to him, but the dog hanyou waved them off.

"Momo, I have something for you to do." Iya tightly said.

Noting the concern in her master's voice, Momo smoothly asked "What do you wish for me to do, Lord Iya?"

"Kagome should be on her way back here from a mission and will return tonight, but I want you to go and find her and rush her back. She should be here with my brother. Let her know that he was badly injured. I have a chart here for where she should be."

Accepting the chart, the hybrid demon bowed lowly. "I shall do as you command, Lord Iya."

Curtly nodding his head, the hanyou abruptly turned on his heels and left. Returning to his office, he shut the door and sat back down at his desk. Releasing another heavy sigh, he let out a low growl as he realized his paperwork had grown since he had left his office. Picking up a sheet of paper and his brush, the dog hanyou started working once more on signing the documents.

000

000

Hearing gentle rapping upon his door, sniffing the air and knowing exactly who was at his door, Iya calmly said "Come in."

Sliding the door open and limping into the office with numerous bandages covering his body was a blonde haired dog demon. One eye was covered by bandages, but other amber one was visible. His blonde hair was pulled back into a ponytail and reached his upper back in length. Many cuts and scratches covered his face, but his golden well groomed beard that stretched down from his sideburns to his chin seemed fairly unfazed. The usual armor that covered his body was now replaced by a simple white kimono robe.

Coming to a stop in front the hanyou's desk, the demon bowed deeply, keeping his head down and waiting for acknowledgement. Setting his brush down, the hanyou nodded to the demon and motioned for him to sit.

"Lord Iya, you wished to see me?"

Curtly nodding, the dog hanyou answered "I did. I wish to hear what happened in the battle that you just returned from."

Looking down at his arm, the dog demon softly replied "Not to seem rude, Lord Iya, but the report was sent to you nearly an hour ago. Did you not receive it?"

"I did." Iya retorted. "However, I wished to hear the account given to me in person."

Frowning, the blonde haired demon quietly said "The report has all the specifics …"

"I don't care for reports." the hanyou stated in a voice of annoyance. "I wish to hear firsthand what happened in that battle. Now then, do tell me."

Noting a rigid look on the demon's face, the hanyou sighed and added "This is not a question of how well you conducted yourself in the battle or about your position. I just wish to hear what happened in this battle so we can learn from it."

Relaxing a bit, the demon calmly spoke up, saying "Very well, Lord Iya. We left the Western Stronghold two weeks ago. Our mission was to liberate a village on the border of the Western and Southern Lands. The numbers of our group was one hundred soldiers. We arrived to within ten miles of our target in six days time. Lord Inuyasha had us bed down that night and rest so that we could take the fight to the Southern troops the next day."

"The next morning, he began marching on the village. When we were only about halfway there, we were ambushed. Intelligence had speculated that only one hundred soldiers of the South would be there, but it was grossly wrong. At least three hundred soldiers occupied the area around the village, with nearly two-thirds of them ambushing us."

Pausing for a moment as he took a deep breath of air, the demon quietly said "We lost nearly a third of our own troops by the surprise attack. Lord Inuyasha attempted to have us reverse our direction, but we were out flanked and surrounded by the enemy. Not willing to give up, Lord Inuyasha charged the enemy with his sword drawn. The men and I found his courage compelling that we joined him in the charge. This action surprised the enemy and caught them off guard. Several of our men were taken down during the charge, but we managed to push our way through and began cutting the enemies numbers down. Lord Inuyasha himself received several wounds from the foolhardy attack, but he continued on. In the end, we decimated the troops that fought us, forcing them to pull back to the village, but we gave them no time to tend to their wounded. Lord Inuyasha pushed hard and we managed to force the remaining troops to retreat back into the Southern Lands. I estimated that less than a hundred of them remained."

"As for our side, our losses were great. Only twenty-six of us survived the battle. All of us had some kind of wounds, some more grievous than others. Lord Inuyasha himself was badly injured from the battle. After the battle was over, he collapsed onto the ground in a heap and bleeding rather badly, muttering something about he couldn't die, not yet. The villagers did their best to help tend to his wounds, but there was no healer in the village, so we had to depend upon mainly first aid treatment. We rushed back here as quickly as possible carrying Lord Inuyasha in hopes of saving him. It took us nearly six days to return, and as you saw, we were all ragged from it."

Noticing that the demon had finished, Iya folded his arms over his chest and slightly nodded. "I thank you for recounting the battle for me. You may go now."

Standing, the dog demon started to leave the room, but stopped at the door. Turning around, he bowed deeply to the hanyou, saying "I pray that Lord Inuyasha will recover, Lord Iya."

"As do I."

Turning and leaving, the hanyou sat silent for a few moments. The scent of blood filled his nostrils, which he quickly discerned was his own due that he was clenching his hands so tightly till his claws had dug into his palms.

"_Inuyasha…_"

Closing his eyes, the hanyou saw his younger brother's wounded form in his mind, laying in the stretcher he had been brought in on. Snapping his muddy brown eyes open, the hanyou stood and walked silently over to one of his bookshelves. Pulling a large book out, he reached in behind it and drew out a large bottle of clear liquid and a set of saucers.

Returning to his desk and sitting down, the hanyou quietly poured the clear liquid into one of the saucers. Setting the bottle down, he reached over and lifted the saucer up to his mouth and quickly downed the liquid.

Crinkling his nose and wiping his mouth with the sleeve of his free hand, Iya grumbled "I always hated the smell of saké."

000

000

Standing outside the office door of the person she wished to see was a female dog hanyou with ebony black hair that reached her mid-back in length, two black dog ears a top her head, honey colored eyes, and a puffy dog tail. She wore a pink kimono that had green leaves etched into it, a dark green obi that tied around her from behind, and sandals on her feet.

Picking up the scents coming from the room, she hesitantly knocked on the door. Waiting for what felt like forever, the hanyou finally entered into the office. Finding the person she desired to speak with sitting at his desk and pouring a saucer of saké, she sat down before the desk without a word.

Noting how much of the rice wine was missing, she spoke up, saying "You really shouldn't drink so much of that stuff. It's very detrimental to your health."

"Why aren't you with Inuyasha, Kagome?" Iya quipped with a small slur in his speech.

Glancing over at the window to view the night sky, Kagome returned her gaze to the dog hanyou across from her and folded her hands within her lap. "I was, but he's no longer in danger. He needs his rest, so I thought I'd come find you and see how you were doing."

Downing the liquid within the saucer and setting it back down onto the desk before pouring more of the clear wine into it, the male hanyou started to lift the saucer up to drink, but paused. A moment more of silence passed until he asked "Have you come to tell me how angry you are and how much you blame me for what happened?"

Frowning momentarily before weakly smiling, the miko hanyou shook her head. "I'm not angry about what happened, and I don't blame you."

Drinking all the clear liquid from the saucer, the male hanyou slammed it down onto the desk, nearly breaking it in the process.

"Why the hell not!" he demanded. "It's my fault that he got hurt! Inuyasha would never have gotten hurt if …"

Reaching across the desk and taking hold of her brother-in-law's hand, Kagome smiled once more and soothingly said "Iya, it wouldn't have mattered if you gave him every last detail of the mission and reports on the number of troops surrounding the village. Inuyasha knew the dangers he would face before he left for that mission. He knew the possibility of the intelligence being off, but he went anyways because he believed in what we are fighting for."

"As for blaming or being angry with you for Inuyasha getting hurt, I could never do that. You gave him the best reports on sightings of the enemy you had on the area. I know in my heart that you would never send your brother into battle, knowing that he stands no chance of returning. You're not like that, Iya."

Picking up the scent of salt, Iya glanced over to see his sister-in-law's eyes were glassy, with twin tear streaks spilling down her cheeks. Averting his eyes, he whispered "I'm sorry."

Wiping the tears away with her sleeve, the miko hanyou weakly smiled back, saying "Don't worry about it. This has been hard on you, I know. I can always feel your desire to wish to protect those around you, and I know how hard it must be for you to remain here at the stronghold, reduced to nothing more than a spectator."

Releasing the male hanyou's hand, the miko turned hanyou stood and smiled down at the male hanyou. "Try not to take what happened so hard. Inuyasha would be irritated if he knew how much this is bothering you."

Remaining silent for a moment, Iya at last acknowledged her statement with a nod. Nodding back herself, Kagome left the office, leaving the male hanyou to his thoughts.

Moving to his feet with a slight stagger, the dog hanyou picked up the nearly empty saké bottle and threw it into a small bin in the corner of the office. "I never did like that crap."

000

000

Wordlessly signing a document with his calligraphy brush, the Lord of the West picked up the scent and demonic aura of his sister-in-law approaching his office. His silver hair shifted as he lifted his head up momentarily, allowing the lantern's light to shine on his face, seemingly highlighting the light blue crescent moon on his forehead and the twin magenta stripes on his cheeks. Reaching for a new document, his amber eyes scanned over it while his pointed ears waited for a rapping sound on his door.

Taking a deep breath on the outside of the door was a neko hanyou. Her long black hair reached her rear in length, with red streaks throughout it. Twitching upon her head were two cat ears. Eyes of emerald stared at the door while her clawed hands were at her sides and clenched into fists. She wore a fine black silk kimono, with long flowing sleeves, colorful leaves embroidered into it, and a orange and white flower print obi sash. Wrapped around her waist, her black cat tail twitched slightly before settling down.

With one last deep breath, she raised her hand and gently tapped on the door. Immediately, she heard a cool voice within say "Enter."

Entering into the room and closing the sliding door behind her, the neko hanyou moved before the desk of the dog demon. Falling to her knees and bowing deeply, she awaited him to recognize her.

"What is it, Lilly?"

"Lord Sesshomaru, I've come to ask a personal request of you." Lilly answered without looking up.

Stopping in mid-stroke, the demon lord quickly returned to finishing his signature, saying "This Sesshomaru shall hear it."

"Thank you, Lord Sesshomaru." the neko humbly remarked. "_I hate sounding like this. I'd give anything not to stoop to this, but it's the only way._"

Taking a deep breath, the neko slowly said "My Lord, I request for you to allow my mate, your brother, Iya Taisho, to return to active duty in the field."

"Request denied." Sesshomaru retorted without looking up from his paperwork.

"_Figures he'd say that…_" the neko mused. Remaining calm, she spoke up again, saying "Lord Sesshomaru, I beg of you, allow him to return to the field."

Still not bothering to look up, the demon lord answered "This Sesshomaru has already denied your request."

Unable to handle the anger swelling within herself, Lilly rose up and snarled out "Why won't you allow him to return to the field! Staying here is slowly killing him on the inside! Do you not understand how much guilt he feels for sending everyone out and not being able to go with them and protect them!"

Setting his brush down, the demon lord's face rose up from the papers he had been working on to look the neko in the eye. Cold amber met furious emerald momentarily before his lips quirked into a small smile.

"Acting subdued does not suit you, Lilly."

Angered even further, Lilly got ready to snap back a comment, but managed to bit her tongue and swallow her words. Composing herself for a few moments, she tersely, through gritted teeth, said "I am trying to be respectful to you. This is important to me."

Taking another deep breath, she moved her eyes to stare at the floor in front of her. "Please, I'm begging you, Sesshomaru. Let Iya return to active duty in the field. The longer he remains a prisoner here within the stronghold, the deeper he goes into a depression."

Silence filled the air for a minute until the dog demon spoke up, asking "Did he send you to request this?"

"No." Lilly murmured as she hid her eyes beneath the shadows of her bangs. "I do this freely on my own. Iya would never ask such a thing of me."

Regarding the hanyou for a few long moments, the demon lord spoke up, saying "This Sesshomaru will not grant your request."

Fiercely raising her head to glare daggers at her brother-in-law, the neko started to begin yelling, only to be cut off before she could get a word out.

"This Sesshomaru wishes to keep Iya here due to his ability to create extraordinary strategies that have proven very effective against the enemies of the North and West. None of the generals of the Western and Northern Lands have proven capable of creating effective plans of attack. This Sesshomaru's brother, much to this Sesshomaru's chagrin, has single-handedly turned the tide of this war with his ability to counteract the enemy. To allow such a valuable asset as Iya to engage in battle would be counterproductive. He is needed here, to conduct the battles and strategies, not on the battlefield."

Clenching her hands into tight fists, Lilly let out a low growl, saying "You don't understand what you're doing to him."

With that said, the neko turned and stormed out of the office, but not before slamming the door shut as she left. "_I knew that asshole wouldn't let Iya go! Damn him, damn that cold bastard!_"

Letting out a long sigh, the dog demon placed his head within his left hand. Running it over his face, he slowly let it fall away and returned to reading over his papers.

000

000

Hearing soft footfalls approaching him, Iya weakly smiled as his mate sat down next to him. She stared out at the pond with him for several minutes, knowing not to speak just yet when she found him in this place.

"It's a beautiful night." the dog hanyou commented as he gazed up at the half of moon in the sky.

Nodding her head, Lilly replied "It is indeed."

Brow furrowing, she bit her lower lip for a moment, pondering on what her next words should be. Before she could say anything, her thoughts were broken by the sound of her mate speaking.

"Don't worry, I threw the bottle away. Kagome and I had a chat about it, so don't be worried, ok?"

"It's hard to try and not worry about you, mate." the neko whispered. Reaching out and drawing her legs up to her chest, she added "Ever since you haven't been allowed to leave the stronghold, it feels like you're growing more and more depressed by the day."

Feeling a pang of guilt course through him, the dog hanyou let out a heavy sigh. "I'm sorry for making you worry. I'll try to hide it better."

"No, don't hide it." the neko sharply commanded. "Hiding things never helps. If you're having a rough time of things, don't hide it. I don't want you to feel you have to. Even if you weren't stuck here, I'd be worried about you still yet."

Nodding his head, the male hanyou fell back onto the soft grass and stared up at the sky. A moment passed before his mate did the same. Silence engulfed the pair as they just looked up at the starry night sky.

"I don't think I'll be able to stand staying here much longer. The longer I stay, the harder it is face those people that I'm sending into battle."

Sitting up onto her elbows and glancing over at her mate, the neko couldn't help but notice the deep sadness reflecting within his normally serene muddy brown eyes. Moving closer, she pressed herself up against his side as tightly as possible and laid her head onto his chest.

Inhaling the neko's scent, the dog hanyou allowed her scent of raspberries to wash over him and fill his nostrils. Wrapping one arm possessively around her and drawing her closer, he slid his eyes shut and allowed his mind a moment's peace, but found it to be short lived.

Eyes snapping open, Iya let out a heavy sigh, saying "This damn war has taken away so many friends and loyal soldiers. Not to mention, I've nearly lost family members from the countless battles that the West and North are engaged in with the alliance of the Southern and Eastern Lands."

"If only we could end this war, there would be no need for so this bloodshed."

Opening her emerald eyes, Lilly glanced up at her mate from her resting place. Trying to lighten the mood, she sarcastically replied "It's not like we can go charging into the capitals of both the East and South. I mean, if we could, this war would be as good as over."

Lightly chuckling, Iya murmured "Yeah, you're right."

Closing his eyes, the dog hanyou relaxed for a few moments with his mate's words ringing throughout his mind. Without warning, his eyes snapped open and he stood up, but gently pushing his mate off in the process.

Surprised and bewildered by her mate's sudden actions, the neko stared at him momentarily before finding a smirk of confidence on his face reflected in the moonlight.

"Thanks Lilly. That's exactly what I needed to hear." Iya cheerfully said. Stooping down and kissing his mate gently, he stood back up, saying "I'll be to bed in a while."

With that said, the male hanyou sprinted back towards the stronghold, leaving a bewildered and confused neko.

"What the hell was that about?"

000

000

"_I don't like this._"

Casting his eyes off in the distance was a rather large man sitting on the ground with his hands pressed against one another. He had short pink hair upon his head with a black skull design within it, a bushy pink mustache, and kind light brown eyes. The clothing he wore was a green kimono top and pants with a white undershirt revealed under it.

"_Whatever I'm sensing is just skimming along our barrier. It's like they know it's there and are searching for an entrance, or just simply testing it's strength possibly. Or maybe they're trying to gain our attention? Regardless, I should let Lady Neliel know about it._"

Within a large, mile in diameter orange barrier in front of the burly man were ten combatants that were paired off and training with one another.

Staring down her opponent was demoness with waist length teal colored hair that hung freely, a single pink demonic marking that reached across her face right under her hazel colored eyes, a large chest, and a skull like helmet that had no jaw and horns jutting out from the sides. Her form fitting white clothing, consisting of a top and pants, fit her body rather well and revealed how toned she was. In her obi sash sat a light green sheath while in her one hand was a finely crafted sword that had a rectangular guard and light green braided hilt.

The demoness's opponent was a young man wielding a massive cleaver blade sword that had a white cloth wrap hilt that was nearly two feet of cloth hanging freely. His short spiky orange hair shifted slightly as he adjusted his stance, his brown eyes focused as he stared her down. The outfit he wore was a simple black kimono top and pants, which had a white inner top peeking out, a white obi sash holding them together, and a red leather strap stretching across from his right shoulder and down to his left hip before going back to his backside. On his feet was a pair of white socks and sandals.

One another stared each other down, with the orange haired young man panting slightly. A trickle of blood ran down the side of his face, but the demoness was not unblemished due to a small cut on her right cheek.

Hazel eyes suddenly shifting in the direction that the pink haired man had been glancing in, the demoness drew herself up to full height, earning the attention of her opponent.

"Ichigo, we are done for now. Go fetch Orihime and meet me at the edge of the barrier where Hachi is once you return."

A touch confused at her words, Ichigo nodded as he placed his lowered his sword and returned it to it's place attached to his back, where the white cloth wrapping suddenly wrapped itself around itself and the leather cord on his back.

"Sure Neliel." he mumbled as he walked away. Sniffing the air, he found a familiar scent of citrus oranges and tracked it down.

Reaching it's location soon enough, he found the source of the citrus orange scent in the form of a bobcat demoness with orange hair pulled back a ponytail that reached her mid-back in length, unlike how she normally wore it in a messy bun. Her gray eyes were set in firm concentration while her face revealed determination. The white outer haori with black lines and dots on the hem fluttered slightly in the gentle breeze. Her black kimono top and pants, held together by a white ribbon obi, shifted slightly as she took a few cautious steps forward, her white socked feet in sandals barely making a sound. In her obi, an empty black polished sheath rested, but in her hands, she held a wakazashi that had an oval guard and red braided cloth hilt.

Circling the demoness, as if stalking prey and looking for the right moment to pounce, was a female neko hanyou, who had long ebony black hair bound tightly in a braided ponytail that fell to her mid-back in length. Her light blue eyes, hidden behind red framed oval glasses, eyed her opponent, looking for any openings in her defenses. The white and green kimono top she wore, with the green mostly centered around the top and her neck, ruffled lightly with each step she moved. The short green battle skirt she wore left little to the imagination, but was mainly a diversion used against male, and some female, opponents. Long black socks reached up to her calves, with comfortable shoes on her feet. In her right hand, she held a sword with a rectangular golden guard, while in her left was a polished black sheath.

"Are you going to attack or not, Lisa?" the bobcat demoness questioned with visible irritation dripping from it.

Still circling, Lisa casually remarked "Perhaps, Orihime."

"Yo, Lisa, Orihime, can you call it quits for a moment." Ichigo spoke up as he approached the pair.

Eyes shifting towards the location of the quarter demon approaching them, a smile crept onto Orihime's face, but was quickly wiped away when she felt the cool steel of neko's blade pressed against her throat.

"You lost your focus and dropped your guard, Orihime. You lose, again." Lisa stated as she took her sword away from the demoness's neck and sheathed her blade. "Thanks for the distraction, Ichigo."

Angered, the quarter bobcat started to retort, but was stopped by the sound of the bobcat demoness sheathing her sword. "It's alright, Ichigo. She's right, I lost."

Flashing eyes of determination towards the neko hanyou, she added "But next time I won't lose."

"Good to hear you're still going to try. Till next time, Orihime." the neko said with a smile before vanishing in a flash.

Rubbing the back of his head sheepishly, Ichigo apologetically said "I'm sorry I distracted you."

"Don't worry about it, Ichigo." Orihime remarked with a smile. "It was my own fault for losing my concentration. I guess I'll just have to try harder next time to keep focused."

Nodding his head, the orange haired quarter demon spoke up, saying "Neliel wanted the two of us to meet her on the end where Hachi is."

Frowning, the bobcat demoness asked "Why? Is something wrong?"

"I'm not sure myself. She just suddenly stopped our sparring session, saying for me to fetch you and that both of us were to meet her before Hachi." Ichigo answered nonchalantly.

Acknowledging his statement with a nod, the demoness started walking in the direction the two were to meet up with the leader of the village. Slanting her eyes to the side to find that the quarter demon had fallen in step with her, she couldn't help but inwardly smile.

"_In three years time, we've grown somewhat closer, but we've yet to mate. I know I can't rush him. Not only is his heart mending, but mine is also._"

An image of the quarter demon beside her wearing a white bone mask with maroon stripes down the left side of it flashed through the demoness's mind. A chill ran down her spine from the memory.

"_And then there is still his Hollowfication powers that scare me. I know I mustn't be afraid, but I can't help it. When I think about those eyes, they're not Ichigo's at all. It's like they belong to someone else._"

Unknowingly folding her arms across her chest and clenching her forearms with her clawed hands tightly, the bobcat mumbled further in her mind "_And when Ichigo looks at me with those eyes, it's like he doesn't even see me, just like…_"

Flashing through her mind was a familiar face of a young man with spiky red hair and auburn eyes. His face suddenly was covered by a mask, turning his eyes a glowing red color.

"Orihime?"

Snapped out of her mental image by the sound of the quarter demon beside her, the demoness looked over to find a concerned look on his face. Picking up the scent of blood, she frowned when she realized it was her own blood's scent.

"Are you alright? You were squeezing your arms so tight that your claws dug into your skin."

Realizing slimy crimson liquid was on the tips of her claws, Orihime examined her clothed forearms and found that five small dots of red had formed on her white haori on both sides from where she had pierced herself. Flicking the blood off of her claws and wiping the remaining part off on her black pants, she weakly chuckled, earning her a scowl from the quarter demon.

Shaking her head, the demoness softly said "I guess I was so lost in my own thoughts that I didn't realize what I was doing. I'm sorry I worried you."

Finding an unconvinced look still on the quarter demon's face, the demoness smiled brightly and added "I'm fine."

Seemingly accepting that answer at last, the quarter demon continued onwards in the direction that they had been walking in. Following up beside of him, the demoness fell silent and the pair moved on for a few moments until they at last arrived at their destination.

Noting Neliel was speaking with the pink haired man as they approached, Ichigo came to a stop and asked "What's going on, Neliel? It's not like you to stop training without a reason."

Turning towards the pair, the teal haired demoness smoothly replied "Someone is skimming along the outside of our barrier. Both Hachi and I detected it. I already have a good idea on who has come to pay me a visit. I want both of you to come with me, just in case."

"Do you think things will not end well, Lady Neliel?" Orihime questioned.

Sliding her hazel eyes shut before reopening them slowly to show uncertainty within them, Neliel answered "I'm unsure. I only hope it doesn't come to that."

Regaining her composure, she added "Come on, let's go. Open the barrier and let us out, Hachi."

"Very well, Lady Neliel." the pink haired burly man said as he clasped his hands together. In a flash, a hole appeared before the three, prompting them to step through and escape to the outside.

Taking off like a shot out of a gun, the teal haired demoness raced towards the southern side of the village. Reaching it with her two companions following closely, she gently reached out, touching an invisible wall. Her hand glowed with a light purple aura for a moment until an orange glow formed near where her hand was. Instantly, a hole formed, allowing safe passage out from the external barrier of the village.

All three stepped out, causing the barrier to once more seal itself away, leaving no trace of it's existence behind. Immediately upon searching the area, a demonic aura made itself present to the three, putting the two bobcats on full alert.

Walking silently towards the trio with his hands stuffed into his white pants pockets was a bat demon with short black hair, emerald eyes, porcelain white flawless skin, twin green tear trails down his cheeks for demonic markings, and a strange bone like helmet that covered the left half of his head with a single horn sticking out to the left from it. The clothing he wore was a simple white silk kimono top and pants, held together by a black obi belt, and a set of coattails that trailed behind him and down to his ankles. Tucked away in his obi was a sword that had a light green braided hilt and sheath. Black socks covered his feet with a pair of white sandals under them.

Remaining quiet for a moment as he approached, the bat demon suddenly came to a stop with a distance of six feet between himself and the trio. In a kind voice, he said "Neliel Tu Oderschvank, it is a pleasure to see you after so many years."

"Likewise, Ulquiorra Cifer." Neliel tersely answered.

Regarding the teal haired demoness silently for a moment, Ulquiorra allowed a small smile to grace his lips. "It has taken many years to find you once again, Neliel. You look well."

"You look the same." the demoness stated in a cold tone.

"Tell me, did you not receive the requests I sent out to meet with you? It has been quite bothersome to track you down once more so we could speak."

Evenly, the teal haired demoness responded with "I have nothing to discuss with you, Ulquiorra. If you have business here, state it now."

"Straight to the point, as always I see. You and I always were ones to wish to not engage in small talk. After all, it is trivial and pointless." the bat demon commented. "Very well, I shall get straight to the point. Lord Sasuke Uchiha of the Eastern Lands extends an offer to you to become one of his generals. You may bring your students with you, and they will be given rank also. Lord Sasuke believes this will be fair compensation for them."

Cold hazel eyes bore into emerald as Neliel smoothly said "I decline."

Facial expression unchanging, Ulquiorra retorted "Do take some time to think about it, Neliel. It is not something Lord Sasuke believes that you will decide on immediately. He has instructed me to remain in the area until you have come to a decision."

"Do not test my patience, Ulquiorra." Neliel dangerously replied. "I know you are not hard of hearing, but I will once more say it. I decline the Eastern Lord's offer."

Staring one another down for a few moments, the demoness added "You of all people should know I choose to remain true to our master's desire."

Closing his eyes and softly chuckling before opening his emerald eyes, Ulquiorra answered "Ah, I remember our master's desire. It was to not take sides with any of the Four Lands."

"You may remember it, but you refuse to honor it." the demoness tightly countered. "Why you would disobey his words, I do not know."

Silence filled the air for a few moments until the bat demon calmly said "You always were one to follow our former master's commands to the letter. Grimmjow never could follow his instructions, but you and I were different. On occasion, I saw that to live by our master's code, you had to allow many things to happen that should not. That is why I disobey his words."

"However, you follow, if not cling to it. I wonder if that is due to that incident."

Hazel eyes widening a fraction, the teal haired demoness growled out "Be quiet."

Ignoring her demand, the bat demon continued on, saying "I believe it was many years ago that you became this way, right after the death of that young prince."

With her façade crumbling, Neliel whispered "Stop it…"

"This very prince was a good friend of our master's, as well as your own. I remember, he was a young wolf demon, who was quite famous for his handsome face, but shy disposition. You and he became good friends."

Trembling with her lower lip quivering, the demoness whimpered out "Stop…"

Paying no heed to her, Ulquiorra pressed on and smoothly said "The two of you remained friends for nearly a decade before at long last the two of you started courting. Our master approved of your relationship with the prince, as did the prince's father. It seemed all would be well for the two of you, until that day."

"PLEASE, STOP!" Neliel screamed with her eyes glassy.

"On that day of the incident, the two of you were to mate that night. A mage came into the land that day, one with the power to control those around him. In the end, he pitted you against your mate-to-be. I fought with the mage in the meantime. During my battle, I heard a sickening scream, causing me to turn and see that you had killed the young prince with no sign of regret or emotion on your face. You had coldly murdered him in cold blood."

Falling to her knees, Neliel shook her head furiously as tears sprung from her hazel eyes. "It's not true! I … I …"

"I saw with my own eyes, Neliel." Ulquiorra filled in. "You killed your mate-to-be with no regret or hesitation. You did it, knowing the consequences. Oh, you cried afterwards for hours on end while holding his corpse in your arms, screaming how sorry you were. But we all knew who was at fault. It was not the mage, but you."

Turning her head upwards, revealing the many tears streaming down her face, the teal haired demoness released a pained scream. Sobbing loudly, she fell forward onto the ground, letting all of her sadness out.

Without warning, Ichigo raced past the demoness and straight up to Ulquiorra with his blade drawn. With a crazed look on his face, he struck out at the bat demon, only to have his attack blocked by the right wrist of the demon. The blade and the demon's arm ground against one another, with light blue demonic energy pouring out over the blade of the quarter demon.

"Damn you, how dare you do this to Neliel! Have you no respect for her feelings!" Ichigo snarled out.

"How unexpected. Despite not knowing Neliel's past, you come to her rescue." Ulquiorra dryly drawled.

Light blue demonic energy flared behind the quarter demon as he snarled out "You bastard!"

The two continued to grind against one another for nearly a minute before the quarter demon leapt backwards. Coming to a skidding stop, he drew his sword in front of his body.

"Orihime, take Neliel and move back."

Gray eyes widening, Orihime softly said "But Ichigo…"

Cut off, the quarter demon curtly declared "This guy thinks he can do whatever he wants without any consequences. Unfortunately, he'll find out that harming any of my friends does have consequences. Things won't turn out the way he'd like."

Gripping his blade tightly, the quarter demon firmly added "I'm going at this guy with everything I've got."

Quickly grabbing the teal haired demoness in a flash and reappearing several feet away, the bobcat demoness could not help but worriedly look at the back of the quarter demon.

"_Ichigo, be careful. Don't get hurt._" she whispered within her mind.

Suddenly, a dark black demonic aura with red outlining it erupted around the quarter demon, bathing him within it. The aura engulfed not only his body, but his blade also. It suddenly intensified, flaring wildly around his body.

"BANKAI!"


	2. Chapter 2: Overpowered

**Hey everyone! So, things have been majorly busy with me. Had plenty of things to do at home, plus we're closing down a project at work this week, and on top of everything else, my mate and I have been car shopping. We picked out a car at last and we go get it today, so yay! It's a 2011 Chevy Equinox, and has awesome color (Blue, Twilight Metallic). We'll be getting rid of my mate's old car hopefully soon. Also some more good news, we found out that a local phone company has at long last got DSL out into our area. THANK GOD! They sent us a box to test to make sure we can use it and it does work, so happy days! But anyways, I'm just happy that that is over and we can concentrate on a bunch of other stuff, like getting another computer, lol. And maybe free me up for some writing, hehe.**

**Writing wise, this story is coming along nicely. I really wanted to focus on it when I wrote **_**Descending Twilight**_**, but I needed to get the ground work done first. At any rate, for now, this story will be progressing as is, which means every two weeks a chapter will be out. If I shorten the chapters, I could probably do it once a week, but I'd rather do longer chapters myself. They seem somewhat easier.**

**Reviews wise, only one, which I was thankful for. Thank you as always Kattana for reviewing the last chapter. I really enjoy reading your reviews. Had several lookers at this story, but no one else reviewed, which is kind of irritating. (/shrugs\) Regardless of getting reviews or not, I'm going to keep posting, but it's kind of aggravating when no one comments on what you've done. Whatever, I guess. At any rate, I encourage everyone to review. I really do enjoy hearing what everyone has to say about my story, good or bad.**

**Anyways, I'm done for now. I hope you all like the chapter. Enjoy! And please review!**

**Chapter 2**

Completely enveloped within the black and red aura, the quarter demon vanished from sight for nearly a half a minute. The aura instantaneously rocketed skywards, appearing to take the shape of an intense towering inferno.

Staring at the tower of demonic aura, Ulquiorra uninterestedly asked "A Bankai is it?"

Launching suddenly out of the top in a cloud of smoke was Ichigo, but his face was lowered so that it was still hidden within the smoke. His flowing black trench coat billowed beneath him while his smaller black katana with the spiraling guard was before himself, the chain on the end rattling. The white bandages underneath his coat seemed slightly more taunt than usual, but did not break from the pressure.

Looking up at the form of the quarter demon, the bat demon's eyes suddenly narrowed when the quarter demon raised his head, revealing his face was covered by a white bone mask with maroon stripes running along the left side of it. The more chilling feature of the quarter demon's face that the demon noted was the cold, golden orbs behind the mask.

Raising his blade up over his head, the quarter demon brought forth his black with red outlining demonic aura swirling around his hands and blade. The aura suddenly started swirling wildly around through the air, seemingly filling the air with an intense heavy demonic aura.

Swinging his sword down rapidly with tremendous force, Ichigo screamed out in an echoed like voice "Getsuga Tenshō!"

Flying away from the black blade was a massive stream of black and red demonic energy. The stream headed straight towards the bat demon with intense ferocity, seemingly threatening to destroy anything that stood in it's way.

Lazily taking his right hand out of his pants pocket and raising it to block the incoming attack, Ulquiorra's eyes widened in shock from the sheer crushing power of the attack when it connected with his arm. The ground beneath him gave way, causing him to initially only sink less than an inch downwards, but a moment later he sank another three inches into the ground.

Not giving his opponent a chance to hit back, Ichigo quickly summoned forth more of his black and red demonic energy, the energy itself swirling madly around his blade. Slicing through the air horizontally, he shot another burst of energy at the bat demon, sending him flying away into the forest.

Crashing through several trees, but unaffected, the bat demon quickly flipped over and smashed into the next tree with his feet. Using it as a launching pad, he flew straight back towards the quarter demon, his eyes gazing intently at his opponent, but his mind filled with questions.

"_What is that form? How can he posses such demonic energy! It's as if he's a full demon._"

Broken from his thoughts as he landed, Ulquiorra looked up ahead to find Ichigo gathering up more demonic energy than before. Bracing himself, he readied his body for the next onslaught.

Calling forth all the strength he had, Ichigo felt his demonic aura flowing around him. Drawing his blade to his left side, he focused all of his power into his zanpakutō. The black demonic aura roared all around him and swirled furiously around the blade in his hands. Alone, the roar itself was nearly deafening.

Raising his face so that his golden eyes stared straight into the bat demon's emerald ones, he yelled out with fierce determination in his echoed voice "It's over! Getsuga Tenshō!"

Slowly sweeping his blade in a diagonal pattern through the air, Ichigo unleashed all of his demonic energy into one single attack. The intense beam of swirling black and red demonic energy raced forward and formed into a single blade shaped like a crescent moon. Ripping across the battlefield, the blade of energy roared towards the bat demon, destroying the very ground itself as it did.

Watching the attack coming, Ulquiorra stretched out his right hand, ready to stop the attack with it alone. A few moments passed until the blade of demonic energy slammed into his right palm, sending him skidding backwards several feet before he managed to bring himself to a grinding halt. Digging his feet in, the bat demon started holding his ground against the attack, causing the attack to start roaring even louder than previously. Without warning, his feet started digging deeper into the ground, breaking it asunder as the blast continued to push hard against him.

The ground itself was trembling from the intensity of the blast. Feeling the force of the attack beginning to overtake and push him deeper into the ground again, the bat demon watched as the energy blade started expanding. At the same time, his right arm was being forced backwards. Inch by inch, the attack was forcing his arm back, making him lean more into the blast. Grunting while his eyes hardened, he drew his left hand out of his pocket and used it to brace up against the attack. For a moment, he managed to push it backwards slightly, but that faded quickly as the intense blade of energy pushed back even harder and widened further. Wisps of the attack passed by him, making his eyes narrow even further.

"Impossible!" the bat demon whispered in shock.

All at once, the blast widened even more and broke free of the effort of the bat demon to hold it back. The blast exploded around him, engulfing him completely and hiding him from the outside world. Roaring on for a few more moments, the attack soon cleared, only to be replaced by smoke that hid the results.

Panting heavily and hunched over as his mask cracked and fell to the ground before vanishing, Ichigo stared at the destruction his attack had caused. His zanpakutō with smoldering wisps of smoke pouring off of it was held low to the ground in front of himself. The black trench coat billowed around him for a moment more before falling silently back into place.

Slowing his breathing, he saw the smoke clear from behind where the attack had hit. The forest beyond the attack was devastated, leaving behind stumps and smoldering trunks.

"Ichigo," Orihime spoke up as she flashed to beside him. "Are you alright?"

Sending her a weak smile before completely slowing his breathing to normal, Ichigo softly replied "Yeah, I'm fine. I might have over done it though."

Looking at him with a sad expression, she asked "Why did you take it that far?"

Straightening his body, he responded "Because Neliel is our friend. No matter what, I won't let someone do harm to my friends."

About to respond, the bobcat demoness was stopped by a suddenly release of demonic aura filling the air. Feeling it himself, the quarter demon looked over towards the area where he had struck at the bat demon.

Appearing out of the smoke, the bat demon stood still with his clothing a ripped and burned, mainly on his sleeves and collar.

"What? How…" Ichigo whispered with shock and fear filling his eyes and voice.

In a monotone voice, Ulquiorra smoothly said "Impressive. Even using both my hands, I couldn't stop it. I'm quite surprised."

Eyes meeting, the bat demon calmly asked "Was that it? Finished, Ichigo?"

In utter shock, the quarter demon whispered "You can't …"

"Yes, it appears that it was." Ulquiorra commented while he slid his emerald eyes shut and began knocking the dust off of his left shoulder with his right hand. Opening his eyes again, he pointed his right hand, particularly his right index finger, at the quarter demon.

Shocked at the movement, Ichigo pushed the bobcat demoness away roughly, sending her flying in the direction of the still crying teal haired demoness.

"How unfortunate."

Without warning, light green energy built up at the tip of the bat demon's index finger. The energy quickly gathered up and launched forward in the shape of a large round green energy beam.

Watching the incoming attack, the quarter demon's face hardened as he leapt backwards with all his strength. Reaching up, he dragged his left hand downwards across his face, summoning his white bone mask instantly. "I'm not going down that easily!"

Bringing his blade over his head, he sliced downwards, sending a black and red crescent moon shaped blade at the green energy beam. The two met, but blade of energy faltered under the intense pressure of the oncoming energy beam. Continuing onwards, the beam slammed into the quarter demon, causing his mask to shatter instantly. Flying backwards by the sheer force of the beam, the quarter demon was pushed nearly half a mile away as he rode the beam.

Vanishing in a flash, the bat demon disappeared, leaving the two female demons behind. In shock still from what had happened, Orihime snapped out of it quickly and looked off in the direction that the quarter demon had been pushed in.

Turning back to the teal haired demoness that was on the ground, the mage quickly shook her, yelling "Lady Neliel, snap out of it! We have to go help Ichigo! That demon will kill him if we don't!"

Hearing the teal haired demoness whispering the words "It's my fault," the bobcat demoness shook her harder, frantically saying "Lady Neliel, come on! Ichigo needs our help!"

Realizing she wasn't getting through, Orihime slapped Neliel across the face, leaving a burning hand print on her cheek. "I need your help, Neliel! Snap out of it!"

Looking up at the bobcat mage with shock and tears in her eyes, the demoness remained quiet and ran her hand over the hand print on her face. She said nothing, only remained still as she ran her hand over the warm patch of skin, as if trying to take the pain away.

Standing and turning away from the teal haired demoness, Orihime apologetically said "I'm sorry, but I must go. Ichigo needs me."

Watching the bobcat demoness vanish without a word, but a look of regret on her face, Neliel slowly stood. Wiping the remaining tears she had away, she hardened her hazel eyes as she looked in the distance to where she felt the Eastern General's demonic aura.

"Ulquiorra…"

000

000

Trapped riding on the beam, Ichigo felt the beam at last starting to descend. It soon smashed into the ground, sending a spray of dirt and debris throughout the air. Rushing out of the dust, the quarter demon appeared a bit worse for wear. His trench coat was ripped up, with it missing completely from the left side of his neck down to his arm; the remainder of the coat looked more tattered than usual. Several burns and scratches littered his exposed skin, but he paid no heed as he began racing in the opposite direction he had come from.

"_I need to lead him away from the others. If we stay so close, there is no way I'll be able to protect them._"

Suddenly sensing something beside him, the quarter demon glanced over to find the bat demon had caught up with him and was now matching his speed. Eyes widening, he met the gaze of the emerald eyes that were upon him for a moment.

With a lightning speed power kick, Ulquiorra sent Ichigo soaring through the air in a western direction. Smashing through several trees and rocks, the quarter demon soon came to rest as he smashed into one last rock, but the rock did not give way completely. Collapsing to the ground, numerous boulders fell on top of him.

A minute passed before Ichigo slowly started pushing several boulders off of his body. He was heavily panting while straining to push the last few chunks of stone off. A trail of blood gushed down the left side of his face. At the same time, a small trickle leaked down from his mouth.

Shoving the last boulder off, the quarter demon picked up his black sword that was laying next to him. Panting heavily still, he tried standing, only to look up and find the bat demon was again in front of him.

"I'm impressed by your reaction time." Ulquiorra commented. "You used your mask to block my Cero."

Glaring intently at the bat demon as he still panted, the quarter demon felt a bit more blood leaking down the right side of his face and dripping onto the ground.

"But this time it shattered instantaneously. I'm afraid you won't be able to bring it out again."

Stepping forward till he was less than four feet away from the quarter demon, the bat demon added "You have nothing left to hold me off. It's time to give up."

Without warning, the black blade of the quarter demon struck the left shoulder of the bat demon, shocking him a bit. Looking at the blade, he kept his emotionless mask on and returned his vision to the quarter demon panting before him.

"I'll never surrender!" Ichigo declared fiercely. Blade grinding against the skin of the bat demon, he asked "You're the General of the Eastern Lands, aren't you? So, it's very simple, all I have to do is defeat you in battle and this war is as good as over for the East."

Staring impassively at the quarter demon, Ulquiorra reached out and took hold of the blade pressing against his shoulder. Pulling it away and ripping open his kimono top to reveal his pale white skin, he smoothly said "I see. It looks as if you've been misinformed."

"Even if you were to be lucky enough to succeed in defeating me, it would not matter. The generals of the Eastern Lands are more than capable of performing my duties. As well, it is not I that gives the orders to the Eastern Armies. It is Lord Sasuke himself that commands them."

Eyes widening at this declaration, Ichigo drew his blade back and lowered it. Staring into the emerald eyes of the bat demon, he determined the demon was not lying.

"Ichigo Kurosaki, it is pointless. You cannot defeat me."

Raising his left hand and pointing it straight at the quarter demon's chest, the bat demon smoothly said "This is the end then."

Launching his hand forward towards the chest of his opponent, the bat demon's eyes widened in shock as an orange triangular barrier appeared directly in front of the quarter demon's chest and stopped his hand. Glancing behind himself, the bat demon spotted the bobcat demoness that he had seen earlier with her hands held out before herself.

Vanishing in a flash and reappearing before the quarter demon, Orihime forced the shocked bat demon to retreat a short distance. Looking down at Ichigo, she saw the blood dripping from his head wounds.

"Are you okay, Ichigo?" she asked while keeping her eyes fixed on the bat demon.

Weakly, he muttered "Yeah."

"Good." she remarked. Returning her full attention to the bat demon, she angrily yelled out "I will not let you get away with what you have done here. You will pay for the things you said to Neliel and what you have done to Ichigo! I will not forgive you!"

Flaring to life, the orange demonic aura of the demoness started shaking the ground, making the bat demon hesitate for one moment. Gathering himself up, he evenly replied "You will fall if you dare attack me, woman."

"The only one about to fall here is you!" Orihime spat back. Holding her right arm out and pointing her palm at the demon in front of her before closing it as she spoke, the demoness yelled out "Bakudō 63: Sajo Sabaku!"

Forming instantly was a golden energy chain that shot forth and encircled the bat demon and wrapped tightly around him, effectively trapping him. He attempted to move, but quickly found he was locked into place by the spell.

Eyeing her with a touch of surprise in his eyes, Ulquiorra whispered "This is Kidō."

"Ye lord! Mask of blood and flesh, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! On the wall of blue flame, inscribe a twin lotus. In the abyss of conflagration, wait at the far heavens."

Bringing her arms together and turning her palms out towards the bat demon with a light blue glowing aura flaring from both palms, Orihime cried out "Hadō 73: Sōren Sōkatsui!"

Roaring away from her immediately was a beam of light blue energy that completely engulfed the bat demon. The very ground itself trembled from the power of the attack. The ground the bat demon stood on broke asunder from the force of the blast. An explosion filled the air as the attack hit it's target, sending dust, smoke, and debris flying throughout the air.

Panting slightly while watching the dust and smoke clear away from the explosive attack, Orihime surveyed the damage while keeping alert for a counter attack. Slowly, the dust and smoke settled, making the demoness gasp in complete shock.

Knocking some of the dust off of his body, Ulquiorra revealed that not only was he unharmed by the attack, but he was once more free to move about due that the binding spell that had held him was no longer there. The white kimono top he once wore was gone, exposing his chest completely to all that could see. Some scorch marks marred his skin, but all were nothing more than minor damage. His cold emerald eyes met the bobcat mage's terrified gray ones for a moment, earning him a slight gasp of uncertainty.

"Your Kidō was far more effective than I thought it would be. You truly did manage to bind me, but I was able to rip free of it soon enough. As for your offensive spell, it was a bit more powerful than I originally thought, however, you lack practice with that spell. I could tell you were rushed to get it off, therefore you were off by just a few feet. Had you hit me directly, you may have inflicted sufficient damage to force me to retreat."

Stepping forward a few feet, Ulquiorra came to a stop and pointed his left hand at the pair of bobcats, saying "Farewell."

Staring at green energy beginning to form on the tip of the demon's left index finger, Orihime screamed in her mind "_I can't stop that! No way can Santen Kesshun hold that kind of attack back!_"

Glancing behind herself to find the quarter demon she was protecting was still unable to stand, she hardened her determination and returned her view to the bat demon.

"_I have no choice. I'll just have to use all my power to stop it._"

"Santen Kesshun, I reject, I reject!"

Forming before the demoness instantly was her familiar orange glowing triangular shield. The barrier hummed lightly while it's master braced herself.

About to fire off his Cero, Ulquiorra was shocked when a hand suddenly reached out and took hold of his wrist. His wrist was twisted skywards, forcing his Cero beam to fire straight up into the air, doing no damage to anything.

Looking over, the bat demon saw that the one responsible for redirecting his attack was Neliel, who had a look of anguish in her features. Retracting his hand and stepping away, the bat demon regarded her for a few long moments.

Breaking the silence, Neliel growled out "Leave now and never come back. If you do not heed my words, I will kill you where you stand."

Reading the anger within the demoness's eyes with his calm emerald ones, Ulquiorra gently placed his hands within his pants pockets and stepped away. "I see. Very well then, I shall leave."

Walking away several feet before suddenly stopping, the bat demon glanced over his shoulder, saying "I do leave you with this warning. The next time I return to this village, it will not be to offer you peace. No, you and your students shall be on the end of my sword, begging for forgiveness for your foolishness. Just something for you to keep in mind until I return."

With that said, the bat demon vanished into thin air, leaving the two female demons and lone quarter demon behind to attempt and recoup.

000

000

Watching each and every demon file into the large conference room, Iya couldn't help but feel all expectations that his brother had of him crushing down upon him. He had never called a meeting for both Northern and Western Generals, let alone the Lords of both.

With all of the demons sitting, the hanyou looked over each one. There were six generals in all from the Western Lands and four from the Northern Lands. Most of the Western Generals were dog demons, with exception of two, one being an eagle demon and the other a fire demon. Meanwhile, the generals of the Northern Lands were all different types of demons; one was a wolf demon, an ice demon, the third a badger demon, and the last being a wind demon. Aside from their types, each one had mostly different personalities and egos to match. The only thing that most of the demons seemed to share in common was their distaste for hanyous.

"_I hope the last week of my hard work isn't wasted on these idiots. Lilly is pissed off at me as it is for spending so much time away from her and sleeping in my office. Not that I can blame her for being mad. I just hope that they agree to this, but that's hoping for a bit too much probably._"

Sparing a glance at to his elder brother and the demon sitting next to him, the hanyou couldn't help but feel more anxiety. Beside his brother sat the Lord of the North, Kouga. His shiny black haired was pulled back into it's traditional long ponytail that reached his mid-back in length. Aqua colored eyes seemed to hold many questions for the meeting. Rather than his usual furs that he normally wore, he was dressed in a brown kimono top and pants that had a black wolf etched intricately into the top and a white obi belt. Resting against his chair was a sword within a black polished sheath that had a red braided cloth hilt.

Taking a deep, calming breath, Iya stood up from his seat and moved to the front of the group of demons. Deciding to start things off right, he bowed slightly to them, saying "Gentlemen and lady, good afternoon."

A few of the generals muttered a reply back, with the two demon lords acknowledging his statement each with a bow of their heads to the hanyou.

"I'm sure all of you wish to know why I have called this meeting. It is of …"

"Half breed, I will be frank." the badger demon interrupted. "We should be in the field engaging in battle or at our corresponding barracks completing plans for the next offensive push against the Eastern and Southern Lands, not wasting our time listening to you jabber on."

Resisting the urge to angrily snap back, the dog hanyou glanced at the badger demon for a moment. The general had black hair that hung freely, streaked with white down the center and sides, coal black eyes, and a scar running down the center of his left eye. He wore a maroon kimono and black pants, with a yellow obi sash.

Calming himself, Iya smoothly replied "You will return to your men soon enough, General Saitō. I do not intend to keep you away from your efforts to end this war for long."

"I hope for your benefit, half breed."

"General Saitō, does this Sesshomaru need to remind you whom you speak to?" Sesshomaru questioned with his cold amber eyes focusing on the badger demon.

Shrinking back into his chair, the badger demon became silent. Satisfied he could continue, the hanyou calmly said "Over the last year, we have reached a stalemate with the Eastern and Southern Lands. Three years ago, their combined forces surprise attacked the Western Lands. Not to sugarcoat it, but they managed to take a third of our lands before we at last managed to stop their invasion forces."

"For the next two years, the allied forces of the North and West fought to retake the land lost during the invasion. Finally, last year, we managed to push the enemy forces out of the Western Lands at long last and began pushing them back into the Southern and Eastern Lands. However, it was discovered that the Southern and Eastern Forces had prepared entrenchments and have since fallen back to them, leaving the war in a stalemate for the last year."

"What is your point already?" one of the dog demons questioned. He had shoulder length silver hair that hung freely and sky blue eyes. His choice of clothing consisted of a gray kimono top and pants, tied together by an orange obi belt.

Hiding a smirk from the irritation of the general, Iya answered "My point is, General Hayashi, that this war could continue onwards for quite a few years. The East and South are both capable of maintaining their defenses and we have yet to create a strategy to penetrate said defenses."

"That is up until now." the hanyou quickly added. "I have devised a strategy in the last week that should allow us to overtake the Southern and Eastern Capitals, thus ending this war."

"Impossible." snorted another of the dog demons, who had short white hair, coal black eyes, and red demonic markings in the form of horizontal lines under his eyes. He wore an outer red kimono top and gray under one, black pants, and a white obi sash.

Regarding the dog demon with irritation visibly in his muddy brown eyes, the hanyou calmly answered "Not at all, General Sasaki. The strategy I have come up with will not only allow us to gain access and crush both capitals of the Eastern and Southern Lands, but allow us to do so simultaneously."

"If such a thing was possible, it would have been suggested long ago, half demon." the lone female general spoke up while she folded her hands together and rested her chin upon them. The demoness's long hair with curls on the end was blonde, an unusual color for an ice demoness, but her attitude and icy sky blue eyes made up for that fact. Her dark blue kimono top and pants, along with black obi belt, gave no hints to the form of her body, other than it was obvious she was very fit and most likely had a well toned body.

"All generals from here on, shut up." Kouga gruffly spoke up. "When Lord Iya gives you a chance to speak, do so, but until then, remember he has the floor."

Silence engulfed the room for a moment before Iya smoothly said "General Nakamura, I promise you, no such strategy has ever been thought of. I have read over the histories of the Four Lands and found such a strategy."

Finding he now had all ten generals' attention, along with the two demon lords, the hanyou proceeded to press on, saying "I have but one question for all of the generals before I continue on with what I propose. Tell me, where are the most vulnerable positions in the Eastern and Southern Lands?"

All of the generals eyed the hanyou wearily for a moment before at long last, one of the two remaining dog demons decided to answer. He had black hair that reached his upper back in length, pulled back into a ponytail. His amber eyes were filled with irritation, but a spark of softness was hidden behind them. The light green kimono top and pants he wore was in contrast to the others who chose dark colors. Even the orange obi belt around his waist was completely different.

"There are few and far locations that the East and South have left weak. For the most part, they have fortified all key border points. There are a few minor areas that are weak, however, every attempt to take those areas has failed due that they were able to relocate some of the garrisons into the area quickly to defend them."

"Thank you, General Yoshida." Iya appreciatively commented. "You are correct. There are locations throughout the borders of the Eastern and Southern Lands that have weak points, but most are protected well enough or can be quickly protected when necessary, thus making it far more difficult to invade."

Visibly agitated, the wind demon ground out "Then why are we speaking of this? If it is known that we cannot invade by any weaker locations, then this whole conversation is completely useless."

Casting his muddy brown eyes onto the wind general with light blue hair that fell down his back to just above his rear in length, the hanyou couldn't help but suppress an inward sigh. The wind demon's dark blue eyes regarded him expectantly, making him want to smack his forehead with his hand. Turning his sight more towards the demon's dark blue clothing, the hanyou noted the demon wore a dark blue top and pants with light blue belt.

"This conversation is not worthless." Iya slowly said. "I am proving a point that currently, there are no easy invasion points that we can currently enter into. What I propose is to create on."

Moving across the room to where a map of Japan was stretched across the wall, the hanyou pointed a clawed finger at the coastline of the Southern Lands first, then to the coastline of the Eastern Lands before turning back to face the group of generals and demon lords. Finding their confused looks on their faces amusing, he promptly spoke up.

"My plan composes of us taking to the sea and landing on the backside of both the Eastern and Southern Lands. This plan will have the element of surprise, seeing how they would never expect us to attack from the flank."

Standing up and slamming his palms onto the desk, the lone wolf demon general angrily snarled out "Fool, there is no way to land troops via the sea!"

Nodding his head while crossing his arms over his chest, the remaining dog demon general added "Agreed. Never in the history of Japan has anyone ever landed troops via sea. It's just not feasible."

Eyes running over the forms of both demons, the dog hanyou saw both had black hair pulled back into ponytails that stretched down to their butts in length. The wolf demon had violet colored eyes while the dog demon had auburn eyes. Their clothing was somewhat similar, but distinctly different. Clothed in a tan top and dark brown pants, held closed by a black obi, the wolf demon appeared rather comfortable in contrast to the dog demon. The dog demon wore a red top and maroon pants that were held together by a black obi.

Allowing his frustration to show a bit, Iya glared at both generals before focusing on the wolf demon general, saying "General Satō, you should know to have patience. If not for your interruption, I could have told you how I intend to land our troops."

Turning his attention to the dog demon general that had spoken, the hanyou added "As for you, General Yamada, there has not been an attempt to execute such a plan."

Smirking, he slyly remarked "Not as of yet."

"It doesn't matter if it's been done or not!" Satō bellowed while slamming his palms onto the desk again. "This plan is foolhardy!"

"Know your place, Satō." Kouga firmly spoke up, earning the attention of the wolf general. "If you speak again out of turn, I give Lord Iya permission to do with you as he sees fit."

Grinding his teeth together, the general sat back down into his chair, but not before throwing a death glare at the hanyou.

Ignoring the glare, the hanyou proceeded to say "This plan will work. By attacking the flank of the Southern and Eastern Lands, the two will be caught off guard. Their defenses are minimal near the sea, with only a few pockets of watchers. This should allow us to close in on their respective capitals with little resistance. Even the capitals themselves are not overly protected. They have less than a legion guarding it perhaps."

"By taking their capitals, do you believe this will end the war?" the eagle demon general spoke for the first time with a curious look on his face. His hair was golden and looked more like feathers than actual hair, while his sharp hazel eyes seemed to study the hanyou. He wore a golden colored kimono top and pants, with a purple obi to hold it altogether.

Nodding his head and responding evenly, the hanyou said "I do believe it will force an end to this war, at long last, with the least amount of bloodshed, General Takahashi. With any luck, we will not only capture the capitals of the Eastern and Southern Lands, but also their Lords. That is of course if they do not resist or are killed in battle."

Remaining silent for a moment, the hanyou added "This is what my plan consists of. I have specifics for each piece and plans on what to do. All that is needed is the approval to proceed."

"It is stupid." Yamada stated. "For a half breed to suggest we attempt to cross the sea and invade the rear flank of the Southern and Eastern Lands is preposterous. This was a waste of our time."

"Agreed." Saitō chimed in. "If we are to win this war, we must do so with a frontal assault and make the Lords of the South and the East remember why they are weaklings."

"Half breeds should never be allowed in our strategic planning. It is your fault we recently had several losses." stated the lone fire demon. He had short red hair that hung to his upper neck in length tied back into a small ponytail and ginger colored eyes. The flame red top and pants he wore was the brightest of the group, including his yellow obi sash.

Folding her arms over her chest as she cast her icy blue eyes onto the fire demon, Nakamura commented "General Kimura, you are wrong. I believe this strategy is possibly the best offensive move that we currently have."

"You must be joking!" Tanaka snarled. "He is a half breed who should not exist, let alone be planning our strategic attacks."

"Yet this half breed is the son of the former Lord of the West, Inutaisho." Iya spoke up in a declarative voice. "I do not expect you to like me, nor do I care. However, I do look to you to look past our differences and examine the plan, not the fact it is mine. If you cannot do so, then perhaps your time of usefulness is over."

"Do not threaten us, you half breed!" Satō angrily snapped. "We served the Western and Northern Lands while you were out gallivanting for nearly two and half centuries!"

Focusing on the wolf general, it took all of the hanyou's self-control to keep from angrily replying. In a calm, cold voice, he asked "Perhaps you have a better strategy to end this war with the least amount of bloodshed?"

Watching the wolf demon open and close his mouth several times, the hanyou drummed his fingers against the map while waiting for an answer. At last, he smoothly remarked "I thought as much. Since you have nothing, do try to seriously consider this plan."

"This foolishness is getting us nowhere. While all of you continue to argue over the fact that Iya is a hanyou, we continue to elude the real issue here." Takahashi declared. Returning all the glares he was receiving, the eagle demon firmly said "We must decided if this plan will work or not. Thus far, it appears to be quite capable at ending this war."

Studying the hanyou momentarily, Yoshida sighed slightly and said "What Lord Iya presents to us are a plausible solution to ending this war. Let me ask this, have you spoken to ship builders to see if these ships you are proposing to build can even be built?"

Allowing a small smile to appear on his face, Iya answered "Yes, I have already gathered the information for building the ships and spoken with several ship builders. Each of the builders has estimated that if we have a hardy workforce, no more than three weeks are needed to build one of the said ships. The ships themselves will be capable of housing one hundred troops comfortably, along with supplies and room for the commanders of the troops."

"At this time, my plan consists of building a fleet of twenty ships, with ten for the West and the other ten going to the North. This gives both the Northern and Western Lands each a legion of troops for the attacks. It's estimated that both the Southern Keep and Eastern Palace are protected by a legion at best guess, but this information will need to be confirmed."

"And where does this information come from?" inquired Yamada skeptically.

Hesitating for a moment, the hanyou slowly replied "This information comes from a source within the Eastern Lands. The source is very reliable and would never betray the West and the North."

"Name this source." Saitō demanded.

Irritated, the hanyou slid his eyes shut for a moment before reopening them, revealing hardened muddy brown eyes. "I cannot. To name them would endanger their mission of gathering information from the Eastern and Southern Lands. Even you generals must understand the danger of revealing such an important person."

"You said confirm this information. How do you intend to do so?" Nakamura queried.

Taking a deep breath and releasing it gradually, the dog hanyou retorted "To get an accurate read on the Southern and Eastern Capitals' troop levels, we will need to send flyers into the area, or infiltrate both the Southern and Eastern Lands by foot. My suggestion is to have demons with the ability to fly in. I myself will volunteer, if allowed to that is."

"It's a risk." Kouga commented as he stroked his chin. "There are many demons with flight abilities in the Eastern and Southern Lands. If any of our flyers are spotted, the plan could fail."

Nodding his head, Iya remarked "It is a risk, but we must take it. We need accurate readings on the troop levels surrounding the capitals if this plan is to have a chance at succeeding."

"As well, we must chart a safe course around Japan to the backsides of the Eastern and Southern Lands. This mission will not be as dangerous, but will require volunteers to do so. At this point and time, it is estimated we will be at sea for at most two weeks, least being a week with good weather. Once we land, it will take possibly a week to march our troops into the capitals of said lands. From there, we can launch our assaults and hopefully overtake both the Southern Keep and Eastern Castle within a day's time, if not a few. Afterwards, both the Eastern and Southern Lands will have no choice but to surrender, or face annihilation from both sides. They'll be hard pressed to maintain both their fortifications and retake their capitals."

Digesting the information, the generals and demon lords remained silent for nearly a minute before the eagle general spoke up, asking "How long will this entire operation take to be produced?"

"From start to end, it should take nearly ten to eleven months. The initial time to set things up and pull men into position, along with selecting a place to build the harbors for the ships is a month at most. Seven of the months will be taken up in construction of the fleet. It will then take nearly another month to move our troops into position and launch out to the sea. Lastly, one month to march our troops into position outside of the Eastern and Southern Capitals and to overtake them. Once that is completed, the remainder of their forces should surrender. If they do not, we will need to pressure them for another few months before they realize it is fruitless to continue a lost cause."

Silence engulfed the group for what seemed like an eternity, but was in reality only a few minutes of time. Breaking it, Hayashi asked "Do you believe your plan will work?"

"It is the best I could come up with." Iya answered truthfully. "If we do not end this war within the next year or so, both the Western and Northern Lands will begin to be strained. Currently, it is clear that the Southern and Eastern Lands cannot continue their assault on our alliance due that they are feeling the strain of the war. They had their chance, but they underestimated the combined strength and determination of the Western and Northern Lands. Because of that, they have been forced back into their own lands and now are on the defensive front to keep us at bay."

Standing up, the stoic demon lord of the West coolly said "Let us put it to a vote. This Sesshomaru has heard enough to determine that this plan does seem likely to succeed. Generals and fellow lords let us vote on this."

In a huff, Yamada snorted out "I vote against this."

"As do I." Satō stated.

"This plan will fail. I say no." Saitō declared.

Not even hesitating, Tanaka firmly said "No half breed's plan will succeed. I vote no."

"Nor do I believe this plan will succeed." Kimura commented. "I too vote no."

Folding her arms over her chest as she slid her icy blue eyes shut, Nakamura let out a heavy sigh, seemingly contemplating her decision. At last, she snapped them open and stared at the lone hanyou in the room, seemingly gauging him for several moments. Noting he did not move at all, she coldly smirked.

"I will vote yes for this plan."

Earning herself several glares and confused looks, the demoness smoothly added "His plan has much merit to it. We have a finite amount of soldiers currently, and to continue wasting them by throwing them foolishly up against the defenses of the Eastern and Southern Lands would be pointless. Let us try something new that those traitors would never expect."

Nodding his head in agreement, Takahashi coolly spoke up, saying "I agree with General Nakamura, everything we have tried thus far has failed. Lord Iya has an excellent record when comparing to any of us. Let us try his plan. I vote yes."

"I whole heartedly agree with both of you and have decided to vote yes." Hayashi said in an approving tone. "The Eastern and Southern Lands could continue to dig in and hold their line for years to come. We must do something or else we could be looking at a war that could drag on for many years."

In a low tone, Sasaki slowly said "The Western and Northern Lands are currently in a stalemate with our enemies. As Hayashi said, while we continue to pound away at their defenses, the Eastern and Southern Lands only continue to dig in and fortify their positions. If this plan succeeds, the war should be over within the year, whereas a frontal assault would have us fighting forever. I vote yes."

All eyes fell upon the final general at the table, Yoshida. He had his arms folded across his chest and eyes slid shut. Opening them to reveal calm amber eyes, he said "We must end this war without further delay. To continue to allow the South and the East to recoup would be disastrous."

"However, I do have one question. Should we follow through with this plan, won't the Southern and Eastern Lands notice that our frontlines are weakening?"

Nodding his head, Iya retorted "That is true, when we withdraw some of our troops, they'll notice the change. However, I have thought of a distraction to keep them at bay."

"Distraction?" Yamada questioned in an unsure tone.

Smirking a bit, the hanyou answered "Yes, I will go to the frontlines and lead our troops in a harassment campaign. The Eastern and Southern Lands will focus more of their troops in the areas that are being attacked repeatedly with fear that their fortifications will be destroyed. While this happens, we will slowly shift some of our forces into helping construct the ships and the shipyards, along with preparation of leaving. The first group to leave will make it seem very suspicious, but once they are harassed, I'm certain that the East and South will long forget about the shifts."

"I see." Yoshida commented. "If you can distract them long enough, they will force all of their forces they can into the attacked regions, thus weakening them along the borders."

"Correct." Iya acknowledged.

"It seems you have thought of everything." Yoshida smartly replied. "I vote yes."

Casting a glare at the last dog demon's vote, Yamada growled out "Then we have a tie."

"The Lords of the West and North have yet to vote." Kouga spoke up, making the dog demon who had spoke cringe. "I don't know about Lord Sesshomaru, but I am on board for this plan. Anything to end this war is for the best."

"This Sesshomaru votes yes also. The Western and Northern Lands will be victorious over the Eastern and Southern Lands."

Clapping his hands together, Iya coolly said "Then it is settled. Preparations to execute this strategy will soon commence. In the meantime, I suggest that none of you speak a word of this to anyone outside this room. Also, General Yamada, I have a request of you."

Earning the said dog demon's attention, the hanyou calmly said "I wish for you to take a small contingency of fifty troops and move to the site for the shipyard in the West. Prepare it and begin cutting down lumber for the ships. The carpenters and one in charge of building the ships shall follow soon."

Glaring at the hanyou, the dog demon began to respond, but bit his tongue when he felt the eyes of the Western Lord on him. In a tight tone, Yamada answered "I will comply. I shall take the troops up tomorrow."

"No, General Yamada, you and your men will leave today after this meeting." Iya corrected. "If we are to complete this plan, timing is everything."

Clenching his clawed hands tightly, Yamada darkly muttered "Very well."

Nodding his head, Iya smoothly said "That is all. Dismissed."


	3. Chapter 3: Overcoming Seals

**Yo everyone. So, last Friday was an interesting day. Had a bit of a sore throat when I woke up that day, but I kind of shook it off. Unfortunately by that night, I had a fever of 102 and was freezing. I got better Saturday, but then returned to the worse side that night and Sunday. I figured I had a sinus infection, and sure enough Monday, I was proven right by the doctor I went to see. Thankfully I got some antibiotics and am starting to feel better, so yay! Also, we sold my mate's old car yesterday, so hurrah! We didn't get what we wanted, but oh well, at least it's gone finally. Friday should be fun due that we're headed to see my mom. Saturday, we plan on heading to Washington, DC, for Jon Stewart's Rally to Restore Sanity. It should be fun to see what he has to say. No doubt we'll catch some of Steven Colbert's March to Keep Fear Alive too. At any rate, kind of excited to see both rallies and hear what both have to say.**

**Got some more writing done, but not a whole lot. Need to really focus more on it, but with everything that's been happening, I just haven't had the time. No worries, I won't fall behind on posting, but still, it's just hard to do it sometimes.**

**So anyways, I guess I'm done today. Btw, if anyone has any thoughts or questions on the chapter, do feel free to review. I really do enjoy reading them. Until next time, enjoy!**

**Chapter 3**

Storming down the long hallway that many demons stood within, Lilly could not help but feel her anger boiling over within her mind.

"_That bastard, he hardly came back to our room for a week due to his work, which I accepted grudgingly due that he promised to have lunch with me today. Instead, he canceled at the last minute due to a meeting with the generals. I know I shouldn't be so mad at him, but I can't believe what he's done to me in the last week alone. To make me even madder, after that meeting he had, he just commented that he had to go do something. Arg, he is so infuriating some days!_"

Bumping into someone roughly to the point she pushed them over, the neko hanyou was snapped out of her thoughts. Embarrassed a bit by her inability to pay attention to where she was going, the hanyou looked closely at the person she had careened into was the mate of the head general of the West.

Looking over the general's mate's form, the hanyou let couldn't help but inwardly smile. The general's mate was a very beautiful neko demon, whose long red hair reached her butt in length and hung freely for those to see, along with her alluring emerald eyes. She stood nearly six foot in height with a lean body and cream colored skin. The clothing she wore was a red kimono that draped down to her calves in length with an intricate design of cherry blossoms, trees, and clouds overhead etched into it. On each of her hips, she had a sword stashed within her yellow obi. The first had a pink braided hilt and rectangular tsuba that had a five petal flower design stamped into it and a black sheath. Her other sword had a blood red cloth hilt and a rectangular guard and black sheath also.

Reaching out a clawed hand, Lilly sheepishly said "I'm sorry Azami. I wasn't paying attention to where I was going."

Taking the hanyou's hand, Azami was hauled to her feet and sweetly smiled at the hanyou, saying "Don't worry about it, Lady Lilly."

"You don't have to call me that, you know. We're technically equals." Lilly admonished.

Casting a small smile at the neko hanyou, the demoness nodded her head. "I know, but you are the mate to one of the three heirs to the West. It is only fitting that your title is used."

Rolling her eyes, the hanyou replied in an exasperated tone "I just wish people would quit thinking that they have to be formal with me."

Chuckling, the demoness smoothly said "You should know by now it will not happen. After all, Lord Sesshomaru has the entire stronghold under orders to show respect to the heirs of the Western Lands and their mates."

"I guess…" Lilly commented in a defeated voice.

Still smiling, the neko demoness asked "Lady Lilly, have you seen my mate, Yamada, by chance?"

Ears twitching at the sound of the lead general's name, the hanyou answered "I saw him and several men leaving earlier. I'm not sure what they were doing. There was about fifty with him, so I'm guessing they're headed out to do some training or something or another."

A touch of shock crossed the neko demoness's face for a moment before she curtly nodded her head, saying "I see. Thank you and excuse me."

Watching the back of the retreating demoness, the hanyou couldn't help but feel something was out of place. Remembering the strange look on her friend's face, Lilly frowned as the image of the shocked, but determined look.

"_Something isn't right. She never acts like that._"

Hesitating for a few moments, the neko hanyou at long last decided to follow after the demoness, using her nose to trace her scent.

"_So many scents. I sometimes ponder how most demons can stand being stuck in this damn place with all these smells floating about._"

Finding the scent of the demoness finally, Lilly made her way through the stronghold until she traced the scent to the outside. Brow furrowing, she continued to pursue the neko demoness, however found herself pondering where the neko was headed.

Reaching the outer gates of the village surrounding the capital of the Western Lands, the neko hanyou's curiosity had long since vanished and was replaced by grave concern and worry. "_She should not be out this far. Azami has no reason to be out here._"

Expression hardening, Lilly quickly masked her demonic aura and scent, along with her sword's presence. Stealthily, she continued her pursuit of the neko demoness. The demoness soon picked up speed, breaking into a light run. Not willing to be left behind, the hanyou continued to keep pace, being mindful to not expose her position. Reaching out with her senses, she found the demoness had yet to hide her scent or aura, but merely continued on her journey. Soon, the hanyou found her target had stopped.

Discovering they were several miles away from the Western Stronghold, Lilly's senses screamed for her to proceed with caution. Carefully, she approached the location where Azami stood, making sure not to give away where she was in the process. Examining the area closely, she noticed several trees and rocks, along with a hollowed out tree that the neko demoness was reaching into.

Hearing a loud squawking sound, the hanyou frowned when she saw the demoness pull a large brown hawk from the tree. The hawk was perched upon the demoness's left arm while she was fiddling with a small silver tube in her right hand. Gently, she slid the tube into a small string tied around the hawk's leg. Rubbing the hawk's head for a few moments, she drew her left arm in closer before launching it up, prompting the hawk to take to the air.

Whipping out of her hiding place, the neko hanyou was air bound instantly and captured the hawk within her arms. Ripping the silver tube from it's leg easily, she released the hawk, who had been squawking madly and flapping it's wings to free itself from the hanyou's grip. Landing neatly onto the ground several feet away from the demoness, the hanyou turned her emerald eyes onto the neko with smoldering anger visible within the emerald orbs.

"Azami, what are you doing!"

Acting shocked, the demoness faltered for a moment before regaining her composure. In an unsure tone, she asked "Lady Lilly, what are you doing here? Why did you do that?"

"Don't change the subject! I asked you, what are you doing here!"

Looking away, Azami softly replied "I was sending a message to my mate. He left without so much as a word to me, and I was worried. That hawk is trained to find him, no matter where he is."

Drawing her blade instinctively with only her right hand, Lilly growled out "You're lying!"

"It's the truth, Lady Lilly."

Brandishing her blade at the demoness, the hanyou spat back "I can tell by your scent you're lying, Azami!"

Calming a bit, she added "Besides that, your mate was headed northwest with his men. That hawk you were sending out was headed southeast. Only one thing lies southeast, and that is the Southern Lands. I'll only ask you this once more, what are you doing? Tell me, so at the least I can try and keep you from dying from Lord Sesshomaru's wrath."

"Who said anything about me dying?" the demoness smugly questioned with as a smirk formed on her face. "It seems you've figured out a portion of what is going on. Tell me, what do you think I'm doing?"

Gripping the hilt of her blade tightly with her lone hand, Lilly bowed her head so that her bangs shadowed her eyes. "I see, so you are the reason that so many of our missions have gone so badly and many have died."

Drawing the blade from her right hip, Azami flippantly remarked "I knew you would figure it out once you were nudged onwards."

"How do you know such critical information?" Lilly questioned with her eyes still hidden.

Smirking, the demoness flicked her blade away from her body. "It's all thanks to my mate's ranking. That and my zanpakutō, Kameko. It's Shikai ability allows me to see into people's minds when they are sleeping. With an ability like that, espionage is far too easy."

"Let me guess, you gathered your intel, came out here, and sent it."

Still grinning madly, the neko shook her head and answered "Not quite. I had to have a bit of finesse with sending my intel. Me leaving the stronghold alone and coming out here would naturally be a dead giveaway that I was a traitor. No, that's why I used my mate to pass along my intel to the Southern and Eastern Lands."

"Your mate?"

Nodding her head, the demoness smugly retorted "I used him to take me out into the woods for a picnic. We would eat said meal, followed by some sex. In all these years, my mate never could figure out why he would fall fast asleep before the end of our round of sex or directly after it while out here. I drugged him each and every time, which gave me plenty of time to write out a report and send the info via hawk. All the while, the Western Lands were none the wiser."

In a snarl, Lilly raised her head up to reveal emerald orbs swirling to the brim with anger and betrayal. "You bitch, do you know what you've done! Because of you, so many soldiers that pledged their loyalty to the Western and Northern Lands have died for nothing! A lot of them had children and mates, yet you had a hand in their deaths! How can you stand there, acting as if what you did was the right thing! Just answer me that!" 

"I can because I know what I am. You, a lowly half breed, could never understand. Besides, have you forgotten that neko demons are originally from the Southern Lands? Did you think I would stand idly by as the clans of the South were exterminated. No, I will not stand by, nor will I let these mutts continue to oppose Lord Aikamaru. He is right; anything with human blood within it is weak. That is why the Western and Northern Lands shall fall. They have forgotten that humans and half breeds have no place within their world. Former Lord Inutaisho is a prime example of muddying his blood with a human and a half breed to produce offspring. His death was deserving."

Gripping her blade even more tightly till her knuckles were white, the hanyou coldly said "I see there is nothing I can say to change your mind."

"There isn't half breed. Of course, there is one issue here. I will be returning to the stronghold, but you will not. Who knows what happened to you. Perhaps someone attacked you while you were out in the woods, where you shouldn't have been. Covering it up will be easy. After all, the Western Lands are by far too trusting."

"We'll see." Lilly tightly stated.

Allowing her smirk to widen, the neko demoness suddenly covered the ground between herself and the hanyou and slammed her blade against the hanyou's. Both ground their blades against one another, each attempting to gain dominance over the other and the upper hand of the battle.

Splitting apart, the two began jogging parallel to one another before lunging at each other, the ringing of steel the only noise heard throughout the area, all the while sparks flew from the striking blades. Again and again, the two collided with one another, each testing the other's reflexes and defenses. Neither showed signs of giving up, though it was easily seen that the neko hanyou had the upper hand in each exchange.

Landing several feet away from the last location of their past encounter, Azami ran her eyes over the neko hanyou, finding she was perfectly poised in a defensive stance and ready to continue their battle.

"So, rumors were true that you're an accomplished swordsman, capable of even sparing with Lord Sesshomaru and his brothers. It's good to see you're not a total disappointment."

"You're one to talk, Azami." Lilly curtly remarked. "Your swordsmanship skills are mediocre at best. Instead of plotting and scheming all these years, you should have been working on your swordsmanship skills."

Visibly angered by the words of the hanyou, the demoness started to charge forward, but forced herself to not. Taking a deep breath, she slid her emerald eyes shut, only reopening them and forcing a smirk to her face.

"A half breed's only weapon is their tongue. Don't anticipate you will defeat me. Unlike the others you have faced, I am far stronger."

"The only difference I've seen between you and my previous opponents is you have no talent with a sword. However, you share the same trait of loving to talk on and on."

Anger radiating off of her, Azami charged towards Lilly with her blade held out away from her body diagonally at the ground. A light green aura flared around the blade, coating it from the guard down to the tip of the blade in an ethereal glow.

In a low, dangerous tone, the demoness grit out "Ring Kameko."

Transforming instantly, the blade reshaped itself into a tuner fork like sword, with sharp two foot long blades and a white foot long cloth hilt. On the tip of the hilt, a single golden half eye with a black slit appeared, but seemed motionless and mainly for putting people on edge. The blade continued to glow with a light green aura, making it seem even more menacing that it's shape did.

Not backing down, Lilly rushed forward, meeting the demoness's charge. Their blades sang out from the steel crashing against one another. Sparks flew from the tremendous force of the confrontation, along with the sound of grinding steel.

Triumphantly smirking, the demoness reached up with her left hand and flicked a claw against the tuning fork blade, causing it to send out a pinging sound. "Song of Sealing."

Suddenly, the tuning fork blade rang out loudly, making the neko hanyou grit her teeth and pin her ears back against her head. The ringing finally became too harsh for the hanyou, forcing her to retreat a short distance. Bringing a hand up to her forehead, she shut her eyes momentarily as she tried to block out the pain.

With the ringing subsiding at last, the hanyou glanced at her opponent, who had not moved from her previous spot. Noting the demoness was smirking still and placing her tuning fork weapon into her obi, the hanyou couldn't help but ponder what the demoness was planning or had done.

"This fight is over, half breed." Azami stated confidently.

Eyeing her opponent for a few moments, the hanyou put a hand on her hip, asking "Does that mean you're done already?"

"Not at all, but you are." Azami smugly answered. "You didn't think my last attack did nothing, did you?"

"Giving me a slight headache with a high pitch ringing isn't exactly a great strategy." Lilly deadpanned.

Not answering, but continuing to smirk, the demoness drew out her other sword and brought it in front of herself. "Snap Tobiume."

Glowing to life with a pink aura, the blade suddenly straightened itself out. Three jutted prongs formed along the blade, with the first starting at about a third of the way up the blade, the other two forming in short intervals so that the last's tip was half a foot away from the tip of the sword. The blade's pink demonic aura seemed to flare for a moment before vanishing completely.

"Two zanpakutōs, eh?" Lilly questioned sarcastically. "How did you ever pull that off?"

Smirking, the demoness whimsically said "Tobiume was the only zanpakutō I had for years. It was created for me. My grandmother was the original owner of Kameko. When she was about to pass away, she gifted me with it, saying that I could use it to bring prestige to our clan. Ever since that day, I have strived to do so."

Holding her blade out horizontally, Lilly remarked in a disapproving tone "I would have to disagree. This fight ends now. Roar Haineko."

Waiting for the blade to dissolve into it's usual ash form, the hanyou was shocked when she saw that her sword had yet to change. Irritated, she brought the blade closer to her face and yelled out "Haineko, this isn't the time for jokes or being lazy! Get out here!"

Frowning when she did not receive an answer, the hanyou's emerald eyes slid shut for a moment as she entered into her inner world. The world was mostly desert, with exception to the oasis that surrounded it. Searching around it, she frowned when she didn't find any signs of the ash cat that usually laid on a flat rock near the oasis. Reaching out with her senses, she tried to find him, again coming up empty.

Forced out of her inner world by the sound of laughter, the neko hanyou opened her eyes to find the demoness laughing at her. Without warning, the laughter stopped as the demoness sneered at her.

"Pathetic, Lilly Taisho. You don't deserve to even be within my presence. I take it you're having trouble with your lowly zanpakutō?"

In a snarl, Lilly demanded "What have you done to Haineko!"

Feigning innocence, Azami smoothly replied "Why do you think I have done something?"

Reigning in her emotions, Lilly tamped down her anger. Examining the demoness, her eyes immediately ran to the tuning fork sword that sat limply on her hip.

"_During our last exchange, she used that zanpakutō's Shikai form. She also said 'Song of Sealing' during the last clash, which must have been to release some sort of ability. Hmm, I wonder if maybe it somehow sealed away my ability to release Haineko._"

"Figured it out yet, half breed?" Azami prodded.

Not willing to be goaded into losing control of her emotions again, the neko hanyou calmly responded with "You sealed away Haineko somehow with your Kameko. Am I right?"

Smugly, the demoness answered "That's correct, half breed. My grandmother's Kameko allowed her to render any blade she struck useless. Unless one of three things happens, your sword will forever remain sealed away. The first thing that could happen is I release the seal, but don't count on that. The second is that you kill me, but like before, I wouldn't expect that to happen. Finally, if you somehow destroy Kameko, you would free your sword from it's seal. But like I said, none of the above is going to happen."

"I've faced tougher odds before."

Sneering, Azami brought her blade up vertically. Flames suddenly engulfed the base of it and ran to the tip. "None like this though."

Swinging the blade horizontally with both hands, the demoness launched a fireball at the neko hanyou. Watching her target dodge, she again swung, sending out another ball of fire.

Leaping out of the way of a third fireball, the hanyou attempted to close the distance on her target, only to be forced back by a barrage of smaller fireballs fired in quick succession. With no choice left, she quickly beat a hasty retreat to a distance of thirty feet and leapt behind a tree for cover. Her cover was quickly under fire by a few fireballs launched in her direction, making her search for a safe place once more. Just as she managed to slip behind a few new trees, the hanyou watched as the tree she had previously been behind exploded, sending a rain of deadly flaming splinters spraying throughout the area.

Masking her scent and demonic aura, Lilly moved in behind a set of rocks and trees. Hearing the fireballs striking randomly throughout the area, she let out a small sigh of relief. Shutting her eyes, she entered into her inner world once more, finding that like before, it was vacant and void of life other than herself.

"_Haineko, if you're here, please, tell me._" she mentally called out. Waiting for a minute, she received no response, forcing her to return to the battle.

Opening her eyes, the hanyou reached out with her senses, finding that the neko demoness was continuing to fire randomly. Her targeting was starting to get closer and closer to her location, making the hanyou anxious and wanting to move.

"_What do I do now? I can't use Haineko. If I could engage her in a close range battle, I'd have the edge. However, Azami seems to be more of a long distance fighter, meaning I won't be able to close the gap very easily. Besides that, she has the edge in this battle due that she can use her zanpakutō._"

Looking down at her empty hand and the other carrying her sword, she sheathed her sword and then brought her hands back before herself. Flexing them both for a moment experimentally, she closed her eyes before snapping them back open with determination filling them.

Weakly smiling, she softly said aloud "I guess now is as good a time as any to try it out. Hopefully it'll be enough to beat her."

000

000

"There is nowhere you can run, half breed!" Azami yelled. "If you come out, I'll give you a quick death."

Scanning the terrain, the demoness held her blade out to her sword out to her side. It was charged with a fireball, ready to be released at a moment's notice. Sniffing the air, she found no scent, other than that of the charred woods.

About to speak, she was interrupted by a booming voice yelling "Bakudō 21: Sekienton!"

Appearing where the voice had cried out was a large cloud of red smoke. The cloud soon covered a large area, hiding everything within it from not only sight but scent too.

"There you are!" the demoness hissed and unloaded several fireballs into the cloud of smoke.

Nearly a minute went by before a smooth voice called out "Hadō 4: Byakurai!"

Flying out from the cloud of red smoke was a stream of light blue lightning. Bolts of energy sizzled off of it and nearly hit the demoness in the shoulder if she had not quickly reacted and leapt off to the side at the last moment. Before she could counter, another stream shot out of the cloud in the direction she had moved to avoid the last attack. Scrambling to dodge, she managed to do so, but just barely. With no time to gather herself up, two more streams of light blue lightning flashed out of the smoke, making the demoness quickly roll out of their path. Getting to her feet, she leapt backwards several feet and landed gracefully.

In a snarl, Azami yelled "Come out of that smoke and face me head on, coward!"

Appearing from the cloud of smoke with her right arm pointed at the demoness and a glowing red fireball in her palm, Lilly answered "With pleasure. Hadō 31: Shakkahō!"

Launching the fireball, the hanyou watched the demoness jump backwards. Charging up another shot, she yelled out "Here, have some more! Shakkahō!"

Swinging her right arm away from her body and flinging a few fireballs, the neko hanyou launched shot after shot at the demoness, forcing the demoness off balance from the constant barrage. Not letting up for a moment, the hanyou continued to pour on her attacks, making the demoness dodge or else suffer from an attack. Pushing more power into her attacks and increasing the size of her fireballs, the hanyou flung several in places she expected her opponent to land in. Her aim was just off by a small margin, but the attacks forced the demoness to dodge nonetheless and not be able to set up a counterattack.

Growling as she leapt into the air, Azami drew her blade out to the side of her body and swung it hard, releasing a few fireballs from it's tip. On the ground, Lilly easily avoided them, using her agility to escape the explosions.

"Half breed, you won't belittle me!"

Smirking, Lilly smoothly replied "Is that so? Try this on in that case. Hadō 33: **Sōkatsui!"**

Flying out of her right hand that was pointed at the demoness was an odd shaped cone like blast of light blue energy. The energy was spread wide while the tail end of it caved into the cone.

Escaping just barely, Azami bounded away into a tree and tried to gather up the energy to fire off a shot at the hanyou, but she did not have time as Lilly appeared underneath the tree with her palm turned towards the demoness.

"**Sōkatsui!"**

**Unleashing another burst of light blue energy, the hanyou silently cursed when she watched her target move from the tree. Tracking her opponent, she followed after the demoness and soon appeared high above her with her right arm extended out and left arm bracing her hand.**

**"Sōkatsui!"**

**The attack managed to score a hit, causing the demoness to scream out in pain as she plummeted to the ground. Quick to her feet, she slashed in the direction of the hanyou, sending a fireball flaring from her blade.**

**Unable to dodge, Lilly took aim at the incoming attack and cried out "Sōkatsui!"**

**Smashing into the flaming fireball, the blue cone shaped energy overpowered the fireball and pushed back towards the demoness. Gritting her teeth, she leapt out of the way before vanishing. Reappearing halfway across the crater strewn and fire filled battlefield, she slumped forward slightly before digging her blade into the ground to help hold her up. Sweat dripped down to the ground from the sides of her face as she tried to slow her panting.**

**Appearing a moment later with a distance of twelve feet between them, Lilly focused her eyes on the neko demoness. Sweat drenched her body, revealing a bit of fatigue was setting in. She too was panting slightly, with her form slumping forward slightly also.**

**Calming herself, Lilly slightly smirked at the demoness, saying "Looks like you're having a little trouble, Azami."**

**Raising herself to full height, Azami gritted her teeth as she turned her stormy emerald eyes at her opponent. "Do not make light of me, half breed. I will kill you!"**

"How very sordid of you, Azami." the neko hanyou said while shaking her head. "You've yet to realize that even without Haineko, I can hold my own against you. Give up and surrender while there still is time. If you tell Lord Sesshomaru what information you gave to the Southern Lands, he may give you a quick and painless death. But if you keep fighting like this, I can't guarantee I'll be able to get him to agree to that since he will no doubt take offense to what you have done to me also."

"I don't care what that dog thinks or says! All that matters is that I prove myself worthy to Lord Aikamaru by killing you."

Sneering, the demoness asked "Lilly, tell me, do you know why I originally came to the Western Lands?"

Receiving a shrug as an answer, the neko demoness pressed on, saying "I came here in hopes of winning favor of Lord Sesshomaru and becoming his mate. I was by far the most likely one to be his mate. All of the others who came to ask him to choose them as his mate lacked one of three things: beauty, power, or nobility. But I had all three, so his choice was easy. Instead, he turned me away, saying he had no intentions of mating with me due to my distaste for humans and half breeds! Because of being a true to my demon nature, he rejected me! He eventually settled on that bitch Yoshe, who is nothing more than a weakling."

Raising her right hand and turning it towards the demoness, the neko hanyou coldly said "I would watch your tongue, Azami. Yoshe is by far more powerful than you could ever understand. Insult her again and I'll …"

"You'll what?" Azami questioned sarcastically. "You, a half breed, could never understand what being a demon is like. In fact, you don't even know what it means to be neko. You were a weak human turned into a half breed by that foolish mage Kenshin Himura. Don't even think you can begin to understand how nekos feel or act!"

Quieting for a moment, Lilly softly replied "I may not know how to be a neko demon, but I know one thing for certain. What you are doing is wrong."

"Typical half breed logic." the demoness scoffed as she drew her sword out of the ground. "I think it's about time I finished you, once and for all. I've wasted far too much time with the likes of you."

Unafraid, the hanyou answered "Then let's have at it!"

Bringing her blade horizontally, Azami's brilliant pink demonic aura began spilling out of her body. At the same time, the pink aura of the blade flared out, the two mixing together and roaring higher than before. Swinging her blade, she released a massive fireball that was at least five foot in diameter at the hanyou.

Nimbly, Lilly leapt out of the way and landed neatly onto the ground below. Before she could counterattack, another fireball of the same size was launched.

Narrowing her eyes, the hanyou held both hands out in front of her body and called out "Bakudō 39: Enkosen!"

Flaring to life before her body instantly was golden energy that formed round shield. The energy suddenly began spinning rapidly, making it look like a saw disk. Impacting the shield hard, the fireball fought to crush through the thin shield. Struggling to hold back the flaming ball of fire, the barrier developed a few cracks, but the neko hanyou sent more energy into the spinning shield, allowing it to take the full force of the attack. At last, the fireball gave up and vanished, leaving a steaming energy shield behind that shattered momentarily later like glass.

Not allowed to rest or prepare a counterattack for a moment, the hanyou was forced to dodge another large fireball. Blast after blast poured from the blade of the demoness, making the hanyou continue to scramble to dodge each attack.

Skidding to a stop and drawing back her right hand into her body, Lilly planted her feet and started building up energy within her right hand. In a fierce growl, she shouted out "Hadō 54: Haien**!"**

**Swinging her right arm horizontally, a blade of violet energy was launched from the hanyou's fingertips in the direction of the fireball. It sliced through the fireball easily, sending the two halves crashing to the ground. Continuing on, the blade headed straight at the demoness with more speed than the hanyou's previous attacks. At the last moment, the demoness darted away from the attack and readied another herself.**

**"Try this on!" Azami cried out as she launched a much larger than usual fireball.**

**Watching the fireball approaching, Lilly rolled her eyes at the attack. "Making it larger won't help you."**

**Not receiving an answer, the hanyou moved away from the attack and glanced over her shoulder at it. To her surprise, it exploded mid-air without warning and fired multiple smaller fireballs in her direction, each spiraling in different paths. Twisting her body to avoid several of the shots, her eyes widened when one was only a few feet away from her head. Ducking down, she managed to dodge the smaller fireball, but placed herself in harm's way of another small one. The miniature blast struck her on her back and scorched through to her skin. Letting out a hiss, she quickly found cover behind a few trees as another attack was raining down.**

Panting lightly, Lilly glanced out from her hiding place, watching the demoness attempt to pinpoint her location. "_Her demonic aura has gotten stronger. If I had to guess, she's borrowing Tobiume's power, which in turn is making things very difficult for me. As things stand, it's all I can do to avoid her attacks. On top of that, she's not giving me enough time to setup for my own attacks. Using high level spells might be my only option; however, they're very taxing on me. At this rate, I won't be able to take her down._"

Flexing her right hand, the hanyou glanced at it with her brow furrowing. "_I don't want to kill her, but at the same time I can't really hold back too much either. If only I could stop her for just a moment…_"

"_That's it! I know what to do. However, I don't know if I can pull this off. I've never had a good double yet, but maybe I can do it. I just have to be cautious with it._"

Glancing out from her hiding place, the neko hanyou saw the demoness searching the area for her. Holding her right hand away from herself, she called out "Bakudō 21: Sekienton."

Spotting the puff of red smoke, the demoness quickly flung a series of fireballs in the direction of the smoke. Hearing several impacts, she began making her way towards the smoke cautiously.

Flying out of the smoke and taking aim with her left index finger, the hanyou called out "Hadō 1: Shō!"

Shocked, the demoness was sent sliding backwards and toppled over a fallen burning log. Scrambling to get back to her feet, she saw the hanyou was aiming another attack at her.

"Bakudō 4: Hainawa!"

Launching from her right hand in a flash was a yellow energy rope that encircled the demoness immediately, forcing her arms to be pulled up against her body. Struggling to free herself, the demoness didn't even pay any attention to the hanyou as she smirked and drew her arm before her body and braced it with her left hand.

In a calm tone, Lilly smoothly said "Sprinkled on the bones of the beast! Sharp tower, red crystal, steel ring."

"Carriage of Thunder. Bridge of a spinning wheel. With light, divide this into six!"

"Move and become the wind, stop and become the calm. The sound of warring spears fills the empty castle!"

Breaking free at last, the demoness returned her vision to the hanyou with wide eyes to find that the hanyou right hand was glowing brightly with yellow sparking energy.

"Hadō 63: **Raikōhō!"**

**Zooming across the field at speed that the demoness didn't think was possible was a mighty beam of yellow lightning. Launching herself into the air at the last moment, the demoness hissed in pain as a few of the sizzling bolts coming off of the main bolt struck out at her and streaked across her hip.**

**"Oh you'll pay for that you little…"**

**"**Bakudō 61: Rikujōkōrō!"

Eyes growing large as pie plates, Azami screamed out in surprise as six straight blades of golden energy struck her body, encasing her and causing her to fall back down to the ground. Landing with a loud thud, she struggled to free herself, but to no avail.

"LET ME GO!" Azami snarled as her pink demonic aura began to flare around her body.

Without warning, the blade in the demoness's hand was snatched away, along with the one on her hip by the hanyou. Thrashing about, the demoness tried to free herself, finding quickly she simply could not break the blades of energy that held her in place.

Shaking her head and sadly smiling, Lilly calmly said "It's pointless, Azami. That Kidō is too much for you to break alone. I'm sorry, but it's over for you."

"RELEASE ME!"

Jamming Tobiume into the ground, the neko hanyou ran her eyes over Kameko for a moment before setting the blade flat on the ground. Drawing her sword out, she held the tip of her sword over top of the tuning fork blade's middle where the blades split outwards. Thrusting downwards with all her strength, she stabbed through the tuning fork blade, breaking it's blades off completely. A light green aura suddenly started pouring out of the broken sections of the blade, only to flicker momentarily and finally fade away as the sword returned to it's original form, but broken near the guard in half.

Feeling her own sword pulsate, Lilly slid her emerald eyes shut and entered into her inner world to find the form of the large ash cat returning. Smiling at him, she softly said "_I'm glad to see you've returned, Haineko._"

"_What happened, Lilly?_" the ash cat asked.

Sighing slightly, the neko hanyou weakly smiled at him, saying "_My opponent, Azami, used her __zanpakutō on you. She used it's ability to seal you away. Are you hurt?_"

Smirking, the spirit retorted with sarcasm in his voice "_You sound almost concerned._"

Rolling her eyes, Lilly folded her arms over her chest and turned away. "_You are my __zanpakutō, so I thought it was only nice of me to ask if you were alright or not._"

"_I am fine, Lilly._"

A moment passed before the spirit added "_And thank you._"

Glancing over her shoulder at the ash cat, the hanyou slightly smiled before leaving her inner world once more. Opening her eyes, she saw the neko demoness thrashing about, trying to forcibly free herself from the spell that held her in place.

"WHEN I GET FREE, I'LL KILL YOU AND THAT MUTT OF YOURS!"

Eyes darkening instantly, Lilly turned her right hand towards the demoness and extended her index and middle fingers. In a cold, seething tone, she said "Bakudō 4: Hainawa."

Yellow energy rope flew forward immediately and wrapped around the throat of the demoness to the point she was almost strangled. Paying no heed to this fact, the hanyou coldly said "Hadō 11: Tsuzuri Raiden."

Flaring down the energy robe straight away was brilliant yellow electrical energy. The energy reached the end of the robe and began releasing an electrical charge into the demoness's body, making her scream out from the intense pain. Not letting up, the hanyou continued the torturous act for nearly a minute until the demoness passed out from the pain.

Stopping the electrical current, the hanyou dismissed the energy rope and stared down at the demoness with cold emerald eyes. A burn mark was left from where the rope had been enclosed around the demoness's neck, but the hanyou showed no signs of remorse.

"You can insult me all you wish, but never insult my mate. You do so again and I will not hesitate to kill you, Azami." Lilly stated with fierce coldness that chilled the air.

Placing the remains of the broken blade of the demoness and the remaining blade that had reverted back to it's former self into her obi, the hanyou quietly picked up the demoness and threw her over her shoulder.

"For your sake, I hope you tell Sesshomaru everything he wants to know. If you don't, you will experience pain far greater than you could ever imagine."

Taking one last deep breath, Lilly turned in the direction of the Western Stronghold and took off running, her spell still holding the demoness.

000

000

Laying on her back and staring up at the night sky, Lilly let out a heavy sigh. Beside of her body, her tail thumped the ground gently. Letting out another sigh, she shifted her head slightly so that all of it's weight wasn't in her arms any longer.

"_... In fact, you don't even know what it means to be neko. You were a weak human turned into a half breed by that foolish mage Kenshin Himura. Don't even think you can begin to understand how nekos feel or act!_"

Closing her eyes as the words of the neko demoness rolled through her mind, the hanyou couldn't help but let out another sigh. "_She is right; I really in all actuality know nothing about being a neko. The real question is why is that bothering me?_"

"Well, this is a change. Usually it's you finding me in a sullen mood."

Cracking open her eyes slowly, the neko hanyou spotted her mate standing over top of her with a smile on his face and staring down at her. Giving a small smile back, she slid her eyes back closed.

Removing his sword from his obi and laying it down onto the ground, Iya took a seat next to his mate cross legged. Glancing over at the neko's tail thumping the ground, he let a small smile cover his face as he reached out and caught it in mid-air.

Opening her eyes and giving a glare at her mate, Lilly lowly growled out "Let go."

"Why? That thumping sound was annoying, plus it gives me leverage to get you to talk about what's wrong."

"Since when do you have time to talk?" the neko scoffed.

Taken back by the statement of his mate, the dog hanyou opened his mouth to answer a few times, but each time closed it. Closing his eyes, he looked away and softly said "I'm truly sorry about this past week. I know I should have came back to our room, but I had to finish what I was working on."

Lightly chuckling, he added "I finished it yesterday and brought it before the war council today for presentation. It passed, so hopefully soon, this stupid war will come to an end."

Stilling for a moment, the dog hanyou turned his body towards his mate's and reached out with a clawed hand to caress her cheek. Finding his mate's eyes were softening a bit, he quietly said "I am sorry. I didn't mean to ignore you like I did. I just wanted to finish that plan and try to make things right."

Taking a deep breath and closing her eyes for a moment, the neko hanyou gradually reopened her eyes, revealing serene emerald orbs. "I know you weren't trying to upset or ignore me, it just felt like it in a way. I'm sorry for being upset about it."

Cracking a small smile, Iya warmly asked "Now then, do you a want to tell what is wrong? I know you brought Azami back and Sesshomaru has been prying information out of her, trying to figure out what all she has told the Southern and Eastern Lords."

Sitting up all the way and pulling her knees into her chest, Lilly wrapped her tail around her waist and let out a small sigh. Resting her chin on her knees, she let her ears droop a bit and remained silent for a few moments.

About to speak up, the dog hanyou was silenced as his mate shifted ever so slightly and slid her eyes shut. "Ever since my battle with Azami, something she said has been constantly running through my mind."

Pausing for a moment, she slowly said "She told me that I don't know what it means to be neko."

"Is that what has you so jumbled up?"

Throwing a glare at her mate, Lilly muttered "It's important to me."

Raising his hands in defense, the dog hanyou softly replied "I wasn't making light of you, I was just curious if that's what is wrong."

Sighing, Lilly murmured "Sorry. It's just that she's right. From the very beginning when I became a neko hanyou, I never understood the first thing about being a neko demon. Even after nearly nine years of living with demons, I've still yet to figure out the first thing about nekos. I thought I had a bit of an understanding when I met Azami, but now…"

"You're completely confused about what you are and how you should act." Iya finished.

Nodding her head slowly, the female hanyou quietly replied "I'm just unsure of what to do. I mean, I'm a neko hanyou and I've just been acting like I always have since I was human, with exception to adhering to the rules of demons since we've lived here at the stronghold. But now that she said that, I'm just… I'm just confused."

"It's not too surprising." Iya commented with a sad smile on his face. "You were human for a majority of your life, yet when Kenshin turned you into a hanyou, you entered into a world that you knew nothing about. In a short amount of time, you adjusted to that new life and learned to do what was asked and expected of you. Yet, you don't know what it's like to be true to your demon nature."

"Yeah…" Lilly whispered. "Is it wrong that I'm feeling this way?"

Lightly chuckling, the dog hanyou shook his head, saying "It's not, Lilly. Inuyasha had the same problem growing up since he was never around dog demons, other than Sesshomaru, but in a way, he doesn't count since he wanted to take Inuyasha's life. However, that didn't stop Inuyasha from living his life however he wanted to. Even now, Kagome is experiencing the same thing you are, but she seems to not mind the fact that she doesn't know much about dog demons."

"I guess it is a bit different with you. Inuyasha and Kagome have gotten to know dog demons here at the stronghold, but you've only met Azami and..."

"And she turned out to be a traitor." Lilly flatly finished.

Reaching out and gently placing his clawed hand onto his mate's shoulder, Iya softly said "She did, but you shouldn't let that trouble you."

A moment of silence engulfed the pair of hanyous. Breaking it, the neko asked "What are neko demons really like?"

"You want to know?" Iya questioned as he withdrew his hand and stared down at it sitting within his lap. Gaining a silent nod from his mate, he heavily sighed and said "Neko demons are very different from dog demons. I'm sure you've heard cats and dogs don't get along, well, there is more to it than just the fact that both don't like one another based on their instincts."

"Neko demons are almost the complete opposite of dog demons. They do not value their family or friends. They tend to only look out for themselves and use people to advance themselves towards their goals. Very few ever mate. Most tend to have sex with anyone whom can help them either produce strong offspring or further their goals. As well, they're not shy about flaunting what they can do; thinking that doing so might get them more attention. Then there is their arrogant attitude that they deserve everything in this world. Often they …"

Noting that his mate had buried her forehead into her knees, the dog hanyou quieted and apologetically said "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you further."

"No, it's not your fault." the neko murmured against her knees. Raising her head slightly, she whispered "I asked you to tell me, so the fault is my own."

Weakly smiling, the dog hanyou replied "I guess I could tell you some of the good points of neko demons so you're not completely depressed. Most are quite clever and capable of solving problems on the fly. Many are also strategists, when it benefits them. Normally, most do not give up on what they desire to achieve."

Seeing that the neko was unchanged, Iya scooted behind his mate and placed a hand onto her shoulder, making her jolt slightly at the contact. Pulling his mate against his body and wrapping his arms protectively around her body, he felt her relax a bit and lean back into him. Inhaling her sweet raspberry scent, he leaned forward and buried his nose into her hair. Sifting through the black hair with red streaks, he found her neck and placed a feathery kiss onto it.

"Lilly, no matter what neko demons are like, it doesn't matter to me. Even if you don't know what it's like to be a neko, in a way, I'm kind of glad. You are who you are. Being who you are is more important than anything else. I'm a dog hanyou, yet I don't follow the creed that most dog demons do. You just have to learn to live with who you are and not let what others say about you control your attitude and actions. Doing that only leads to distorting the image of who you truly are, so please, don't worry so much about not knowing what neko demons are like."

Processing the words of the dog hanyou silently, Lilly softly smiled and quietly said "I guess you're right. I am who I am."

"That's right." the dog hanyou commented. "Never change who you are, Lilly. Acting human is not a crime. If anything, it makes you more unique and special."

Nodding her head gently, the neko relaxed and leaned closer back and breathed in the scent of her mate. Relishing in the scent of woods and cinnamon that poured into her nostrils, the neko let out a contented sigh.

"Lilly, I have something important to tell you."

Tensing upon hearing her mate's words, the neko let out a heavy sigh and asked "What is it?"

Hesitating, the dog hanyou quietly answered "Tomorrow I'm leaving for the front lines."

"How long?"

Uncertain of her reaction to his news, the male hanyou softly said "Six to seven months."

Silence engulfed the pair for a few moments before the neko spoke up, saying "I'm going with you."

"Lilly, you're not going. I need you to stay here at the stronghold and continue training with Yoshe, and also going on missions too. I'm only going because I have to."

Sitting up and turning around to look her mate in the eye, Lilly studied his face for a few long moments with darkened emerald eyes. At last speaking, she tersely asked "Have to, ordered to, or volunteered to? Which was it?"

"Please don't be difficult." Iya pleaded. "I don't want to spend my last night at home with you angry or fighting."

"Then answer the question." Lilly prodded.

Rolling his eyes and groaning as he pinched the bridge of his nose, the dog hanyou muttered in a low tone "I volunteered to. It was the only thing I could think of to draw the attention of the Southern and Eastern Lands."

Remaining quiet for a few more moments, the neko abruptly rose to her feet and stretched her body out. Watching, the dog hanyou couldn't help but feel a bit aroused as he watched.

Offering her hand, the neko waited for her mate to take hold, who did so quickly and stood up himself. Giving a small smile, she said "I guess we should head in. If this is to be your last night here for a while, I want you to remember it well. Just know this, I will be visiting you."

"I expected nothing less." the male hanyou slyly replied.

**Thanks everyone for reading the chapter. Now, if you could do me a kind favor and review to let me know what you think of the chapter, I'd appreciate it. Till next time!**


	4. Chapter 4: A Horse's Duty, Pt 1

**Hey there everyone! So, tons of stuff going on in my life currently. First off, I'm currently running a sound board for a set of plays. I only got the invitation to do so last Thursday by a guy I work with who is the producer of the plays, so it was a bit surprising, but I agreed to do it since I did this past summer for him. The plays (it's 4 shows pushed into an hour and thirty minutes. The 4 are "A Different Day", "Biting the Snake", "Skipper", and "Ballad of the Bard") are pretty good. Really they're pretty funny, though it's questionable how they'll go. At times, it was curious if we'd be ready or not, but we'll see tonight I guess, seeing how it's opening night. They run for three nights (tonight (Thursday), tomorrow (Friday), and Saturday) in a row. I hope they'll go over well, but it's still a tossup on that. The kids doing it are teenagers, well, with exception of two or three actors. After these plays are over, I immediately roll into another for sound again, lol. I was asked Sunday by the director if I could do his sound, so I was like, sure. The guy I work with stars in it, so it should be interesting. However, we only have 2 weeks to work on it, with it starting Sunday and running through next week, then taking off Thanksgiving week, and picking back up the following week, with the play opening that Friday… So about 2 weeks to get things in row. I'm not sure if I even have any sounds yet, plus the computer we do sound from is currently not hooked up to the sound board, so yeah… Should be very interesting to see how things go. Besides that, Thanksgiving is coming up really fast, though it may not be as hectic, but I don't know. My mom isn't coming in for it, which is a touch irritating, but whatever. Regardless, that week is going to be super busy and filled with food, hehe. Monday I know my step mom is having her family in; Thursday is my dad's family. Somewhere in there, my wife's family will have dinner, plus we'll probably have dinner with my grandparents (mom's side). It'll be great and all, but I'm not big all the holiday visits. They're sometimes irritating, seeing how one family plans something on the day you intend to go visit another family. Oh well, it's just part of the life of belonging to a family that was divorced and remarried. At any rate, lots of stuff going in my life, to say the least.**

**Writing wise, I hit a bit of a slump the last few weeks. I don't know why, but I've gotten to the point where I wasn't inspired to write, nor wanted to do so. Don't know why, but it's just been that way. I'm hoping to fix that soon, so no worries. I will finish the story, regardless of what happens, so be patient with me.**

**Thanks to Katanna for reviewing. I always enjoy hearing from you. Your feedback is very inspiring to continue on with this story and not give up.**

**To any who have yet to review, I encourage you to do so. It's important to me as a writer to know what the readers are thinking about what I've written. It lets me know if I need to change my style of writing, incorporate some other aspects, etc, etc. In other words, it helps me out as a writer to know what you, the readers, are thinking about what I've produced. So please, if you could review, I would truly appreciate it. Thanks.**

**So, that's it for me. Next post will be Thanksgiving week sometime. Till then, enjoy!**

**Chapter 4**

"Damn it, I'm so weak…"

Laying on his back in only his black pants and his eyes covered by his right arm, Ichigo growled lightly and fisted the blanket that lay underneath him with his free hand, nearly ripping it in the process with his short claws. The only sound heard within the room other than his breathing was rain pattering on top of the thatched roof. Sitting nearby on the ground were his inner and outer tops, white ribbon obi, socks, and sandals. Leaning against the wall near him was the massive cleaver blade sword he wielded.

Images of the battle he had with the bat demon over a month ago ran through his mind, making him clench his fist even more tightly. The wounds that had been inflicted upon his body from the fight had long since healed, but the memory of the battle remained fresh in his mind as the day it happened.

"_I was powerless to stop him. All I managed to do was damage his clothes and nothing else._"

Squeezing his eyes shut and turning his head onto it's side, he yelled in his mind "_What the hell have I been doing these past nine years! Is this all the power I've gained! If it is, I've wasted all of so much time._"

"_Ichigo, you were tired from your training. That's the only reason he probably beat you._"

Hearing the consoling words of the bobcat demoness roll through his mind, the quarter demon shook his head roughly, murmuring "_No, Orihime was wrong. I was defeated, even if I was somewhat tired from my training. There was no way I was that weakened before that battle. The fact of the matter is I lost to him, even when I went at him full force._"

Sitting up with a jerk, the quarter demon grabbed his white top and threw it on. Sliding on his sandals, he stalked towards the doorway. Pushing aside the hanging bamboo door curtain, he moved through the gentle rain at a quick pace in the direction of the hut where the leader of the village resided. Reaching the front of the hut, he gently rapped on the door frame. A moment passed before a voice called out "Enter."

Entering into the hut, Ichigo found Neliel sitting on her knees in front of a fire pit with a cup of tea in hand. The steaming liquid's scent filled the air, causing the quarter demon to eye it.

Motioning for him to take a seat, the demoness softly asked "Would you like some tea, Ichigo?"

Receiving a nod of acknowledgement, she stood up and fetched a nearby cup from one of her neighboring rooms. Returning quickly, the teal haired demoness sat back down onto her knees and took the teapot hanging over the fire off and poured a fresh cup. Handing the cup to the quarter demon, she watched him take the warm cup and blow on it before sipping from it.

Staring into the cup of warm liquid, Ichigo began to speak, only to be cut off by Neliel. "You're here about what happened in that battle with Ulquiorra, aren't you?"

"Yeah," Ichigo murmured. Sitting silently for a few moments, he slowly said "Losing that battle has made me wonder if this is all I can muster. The truth is that I was no match for him. And before you say it, I realize we had been training that day and had expended some of my energy, but I wasn't that worn out. I still had plenty of energy, but it wasn't enough."

Gripping the cup slightly tighter, he added "Because of my weakness, Orihime had to step in and take up the fight. If you hadn't arrived, she would have …"

"Ichigo, she was only doing what she felt was right in her heart." Neliel spoke up, interrupting the quarter demon.

Hanging his head, the quarter demon softly said "She never would have been forced to do that if I had been strong enough to defeat him."

The pair fell into an uncomfortable silence for a minute until the demoness spoke up. "You intend to change that, don't you?"

"I do, and I know how."

Taking a deep breath, the quarter demon raised his head and stared into the hazel eyes of the demoness and said "I need to find a way to make my mask change again."

Frowning, Neliel cocked an eyebrow, prompting Ichigo to explain. "When my hollow powers first manifested themselves, my mask looked different from how it does now. Originally, according to Hat-and-Clogs, when my hollow took over and my mask formed, it only had three maroon stripes above my left eye. As my training with him progressed, it changed again until the three stripes were joined by two thinner stripes under my eye."

"After I came here and at last gained control of my hollow powers, I noticed that there were four maroon stripes over my left eye and two underneath it. This was in my first year here. After a few more years, I noticed it had changed again, this time with three stripes appearing on the chin part of my mask and the stripes above my eye stretching down over my nose. Lastly, I noticed the year Orihime came here that my mask had changed once more, this time with the stripes under my left eye increasing so that it had three and the stripes above my eye stretching down even further over my nose."

Pausing for a moment, he slowly added "With each change to my mask, I noticed a drastic difference in the amount of time I could keep it on and the power that came with it. Currently, I can keep my mask on for an hour or more. As well, when I use it, my power surges and I'm way stronger and faster than I am without it."

"So, you're saying if your mask changes again, you think you could combat someone like Ulquiorra?" Neliel questioned evenly.

Sighing, the quarter demon looked away, saying "I don't know for sure… But I can't let the people I care about get hurt because I'm not strong enough. I watched those that I loved get killed because of that once. It was then that I swore I would protect everyone, no matter how much pain or harsh training I had to endure."

Hearing the determination shining from the quarter demon's words, Neliel stared down at her hands that were sitting within her lap. Finally breaking the silence, she softly said "There is a way to get your mask to change."

Noting the quarter demon perking up somewhat, she firmly added "This method is extremely dangerous and could get you killed. No one has succeeded in this task, hence why I advise you against taking this route."

"Not like I haven't risked my life up until now to get stronger." Ichigo grumbled.

Unemotionally, the demoness replied "This will be one of your greatest challenges. To change your mask once more, you must go back into your inner world and face your hollow again."

"That all?" the quarter demon asked in shock. "It'll be a cake walk to kick his ass …"

"I'm not done." Neliel sternly said. "This time, you must find a way to force him to fight you at full strength. If he does not, your power will not increase. Only when he fights you at full power will your mask change once more."

Taking in a deep breath for a moment, she added "This method is extremely dangerous because of the danger that comes from your hollow being at full power. His true power will more than likely be more than you can handle. If you are to beat him, you must not rely on brute force or sheer power. You will have to be careful and mindful of what you do. I have no doubt it will take all that you have learned throughout your combat experience to defeat him."

"Are you sure you wish to do this, Ichigo Kurosaki?"

Eyes and voice full of determination, Ichigo answered "Yes."

Nodding her head in acknowledgement, Neliel calmly replied "It will take a few days to set things up. Once it is ready, we will proceed."

"Until then, I want you to try and not strain yourself. Relax, for once you undertake this battle, you will no doubt be in indescribable pain."

Solemnly nodding his head, the quarter demon set the cup of tea down onto the floor. Slowly, he bowed and humbly said "Thank you, Neliel."

000

000

Approaching his fellow Vizards, Ichigo couldn't help but feel a touch of worry tugging in the back of his mind, but he pushed it away and steeled himself for what awaited up ahead.

"_There is no turning back. I need to do this so I can protect everyone._"

Glancing over to his right at the beautiful bobcat demoness walking beside him, he mentally added "_I won't ever let what happened to Rukia happen to Orihime. No matter what, I have to win this fight and gain full control over my hollow. With his full power, I should be able to protect her and everyone else. I won't fail, no, I can't fail!_"

Noting the visible tension in the quarter demon's form, Orihime reached over and took his hand into her own. Feeling his rough, callous hand lace together with her own smooth one, she softly smiled at him, earning her his attention.

"Ichigo." she huskily whispered, noting the tension in his body easing a bit and a small blush appearing onto his cheeks. Stifling a giggle, she said "You should try to relax."

Hardening his gaze on the group they were approaching, the quarter demon quietly replied "I wish I could, but I need to be on edge for what is going to happen."

"You could just let it go." the mage suggested.

"I can't, Orihime."

Letting out a small sigh, the mage looked away. Suddenly she found herself brought to a stop and looked over to find the quarter demon was staring at her intently with his brown eyes. Gray met brown for a few moments before he turned back towards the group they were coming up on.

"I want to be able to protect everyone. I thought I could before, but after my fight with that guy, I know I'm still not nearly strong enough to do so. May be it was arrogance to think that I had enough power to beat him, or overconfidence in my own abilities. Either way, I lost that fight and found that I have come a long way towards my goal, but still have a long way to go also. That's why I have to do this. Not because I want to, but I have to. Do you understand?"

Biting her lip, the demoness nodded her head mutely. Looking at him with somewhat glassy eyes, she quietly pleaded "Just don't get hurt."

Cockily grinning, the quarter demon flippantly replied "No worries, I don't intend to."

Feeling her own cheeks heat up a bit, the bobcat demoness did not get time to answer as she was dragged onwards. Reaching the group, the pair released each other's hands, with the mage moving into place beside of the pink haired hanyou. The quarter demon only continued forward until he stood in front of the teal haired demoness.

Evenly, Neliel smoothly said "Ichigo, I will only ask you this one last time. Are you certain you wish to proceed? Many have tried and failed at completing this training and I would hate to lose you because your pride won't let you stand down."

"It's not about pride." Ichigo answered without any hesitation in his voice. "I'm doing this, regardless of what you say."

Scowling as he crossed his arms over his chest, he added "I guess I'll just have to be the first to succeed at this training."

Lips twitching into a small smile, the teal haired demoness simply nodded her head of acceptance of his answer. Catching her motions, the quarter demon unfolded his arms and looked straight at her, asking "What do I need to do to get started?"

Without warning, a sickening sloshing sound filled the air, accompanied by a pained gasp. The quarter demon's shocked brown eyes slid over to his right, finding the teal haired demoness standing there, her hazel eyes coldly staring forward and her expression bland. Turning his eyes downwards, he found her right arm embedded up to her upper forearm through the center of his chest. Trying to form words, he stood there, his brain having difficulty grasping the situation.

"This." the demoness spoke in a one worded answer.

Withdrawing her arm in a fluid motion and stepping back, she flicked the blood off of her clawed hand, sending small droplets of the quarter demon's life force raining onto the ground. Staring into the eyes of the quarter demon, she saw his normally vibrant brown eyes beginning to glaze over. Looking at the wound over that she had inflicted upon him, she noted that the hole went completely through his body. Spotting blood beginning to pour from the wound and coating his clothing red, she saw the confused gaze in his eyes before he began falling forward towards the ground.

"ICHIGO!" Orihime screamed out as she rushed towards the falling quarter demon.

Not getting more than a few feet before she was suddenly brought to a stop by a light green energy box barrier abruptly created around her body, the bobcat demoness pounded her fists against the barrier. Unable to punch through, she helplessly watched the quarter demon fall face first onto the ground, blood splashing on impact from his wound, staining the ground a shade of crimson. Turning back towards the pink haired hanyou, who was holding her within his barrier, she let her tears start falling from her glassy gray eyes.

In a desperate voice, she pleadingly cried out "Let me out Hachigen!"

Shaking his head gently and looking at her with saddened eyes, Hachi softly replied "I cannot do that, Orihime. Lady Neliel asked me to not let you interfere."

"But he'll die!" the mage declared heatedly with tears pouring down her cheeks. "I can save him if you let me go!"

Averting his eyes, the pink haired half demon began to answer, only to be cut off by the voice of the teal haired demoness. "This is how it must be, Orihime."

Turning a fierce glare at the teal haired demoness, Orihime angrily spat out "Why, why are you doing this Neliel! Ichigo wanted your help, not to die by your hands!"

"Training of this level requires Ichigo's hollow to be let out. To draw it out quicker, a hollow hole must be created. This will speed up the process, allowing him to confront his hollow sooner than how we normally train."

Glaring at the teal haired demoness, the bobcat mage screamed out "He trusted you!"

"And I trust him." Neliel answered calmly. "Ichigo wished to push forward with his training and this was the only way to do so. Do not think that I wished this upon him, for I did not."

Calming a bit, the bobcat mage closed her eyes for a moment, only to snap them open when she felt a familiar, dark demonic aura flaring to life. Finding a thick black aura with red licking the tips of it surrounding the quarter demon, she couldn't help but feel a bit of uneasiness settling in.

"Hachi, has your barrier been raised yet for the training field?"

Flicking a glance at Neliel, Hachi simply nodded his head, saying "Preparations have been made, Lady Neliel. I created my strongest barrier around us, with five pillars filled with my own demonic power. As requested, I made the barrier's strength capable withstanding hits from even you Ceros, though I do not think it was necessary."

"We cannot underestimate his hollow's strength. Our previous engagement with it showed that it has considerable power." the teal haired demoness stated.

Turning to the remainder of the Vizards, the demoness smoothly said "All of you prepare yourselves for combat. Unlike last time where I dealt with Ichigo's hollow alone, we will do so as a team this time. He will transform much faster this time and no doubt reach the form I fought near the end of our previous battle. However, I expect Ichigo will convince his hollow to use his full power. When this happens, Ichigo's body will undergo another transformation into his hollow's true form. His true form will require all of us working together to contain it. Do not hold back in this battle, even if you must use deadly force. I have no doubt Ichigo's hollow will be able to withstand about any kind of attack we use against him, so do not be afraid for his wellbeing. Is that understood?"

"Yes!" all of the Vizards yelled in unison.

Noting the saddened look on the bobcat mage, the demoness moved towards her. Nodding towards the pink haired hanyou, she watched as the barrier around the mage faded away. Sadly smiling, she placed a comforting hand onto the mage's shoulder.

"Orihime, I am sorry for you to have to see this, but we do require your aide. If you do not think you can fight with Ichigo's hollow, then I wish for you to tend to the wounded from the battle. I will be depending on both Hachigen and you to help keep all of us in this battle."

Sliding her gray eyes away towards the ground, the mage weakly replied "I'll try."

Watching the teal haired demoness turn away, the bobcat mage turned back towards Hachi, who had a look of guilt on his face. In an apologetic tone, he said "I am sorry for that, Orihime."

Weakly smiling back, Orihime softly remarked "Don't worry about it, Hachi. It was my fault."

Not replying due to the flare up of black demonic energy, the Vizards, with exception of the pink haired half demon, drew their swords and moved into ready positions. Each had an assortment of expressions on their faces, none sure what the battle ahead held for them.

000

000

Waking to find himself standing on one of the horizontal skyscrapers within his inner world, Ichigo opened his eyes and stared out across the vast world. A light breeze caught his clothing and hair, sending them rustling gently, along with the white cloth wrapping hanging from the hilt of his cleaver blade like sword on his back. Slowly floating vertically across the blue sky were white fluffy clouds that lazily moved by.

Looking straight ahead, the quarter demon found the person he desired to see staring back at him with golden eyes. His white pristine skin glistened slightly in the sunlight while his white hair, clothing, and black cloth hanging from the hilt of his sword shifted slightly from the breeze. The clothes he wore were identical to the quarter demon, with exception of them being white rather than black. On his back, a similar cleaver blade like sword was mounted, covered in black cloth rather than white.

"Tell me partner, why did you call me out here?" the quarter demon's white double grunted out irritably.

Staring at his hollow for several moments before answering, the quarter demon at last spoke up, asking "Do you remember what you told me after I won our last fight?"

Rubbing his forehead, the white double finally shrugged. "Like I keep track of what we talk about."

"Fine, you defeated me. You have won the fight, for now. I guess I have no choice, I'll have to accept you as the king."

Pausing for a moment, the quarter demon calmly added "Those were your exact words. Back then, I believed that you would comply. It seemed as if you had accepted your plight and decided to become the so called horse. Looking back now, I realize you never intended to let me use your true power."

"You have a lot of gall to say I'm shirking off at my duty, King. After all, I'm the one that's been carrying your ass through all of your training and battles."

Remaining quiet for half a minute, the quarter demon at last answered with "It's true you gave me a portion of your power, but I know you're holding back. My last battle raised that issue, and after confronting you, I'm certain you are holding out."

"Do you even know what the responsibilities of a horse are to it's king?" the quarter demon questioned after a moment of silence. "A horse is to dutifully carry the king into battle, using it's full strength to move the king around the field of battle. If the king is knocked off, the horse must protect it's king and aid him until the king is able to get back on. The horse must listen to the king's commands, or else the king and his horse will both be killed during the battle."

Pointing a condemning finger at the hollow, Ichigo declared "You have failed at listening to the commands I have asked of you. Do you admit it?"

Cracking a smirk at the quarter demon, the white look-alike snidely retorted "I don't deny that I've paid little heed to your orders. When you defeated me last time, I gave you access to my power, but only a portion of it because I knew you couldn't handle it. For that matter, you still cannot."

Smirk fading, he threw his right arm out and then pointed at himself with his thumb and asked aloud "Why should I obey someone weak like you? You foolishly risk your life, claiming you want to protect everyone. What a joke! Why protect such weaklings when you could become so much more!"

Clenching his hands at his side as he hid his eyes beneath the shadows of his bangs, the quarter demon stood silent for what seemed like forever. Smirking triumphantly, the double was about to declare victory, only to be cut off by the quarter demon raising his head and revealing determined brown eyes.

"I do so because I once lost everyone important to me. I not only lost my parents because I was too weak to protect them, but I lost my best friend Renji too. The sheer fact that I didn't have the power to protect any of them has eaten away at my soul since the day they died, but what stands out in my head even more so was when I failed my mate. Rukia pinned her hopes to me to save her, yet I failed in the end. I failed because I lacked the power to defeat Kenshin Himura. That failure led to me having to kill her just so that bastard couldn't take her by force."

Fiercely, Ichigo yelled out "I won't fail the people around me like that again! I don't care what happens to me! So long as I can protect all of them, I will endure any kind of pain. I'd risk my very life, body and soul just to protect them! You could never understand the kind of pain that I've endured, nor that kind of dedication! That's why you will give me your full power, or else I'll force you to do so!"

Lightly chuckling at first, the hollow finally threw his head back and let loose a full burst of loud, maniacal laughter. Calming a bit and smirking at the quarter demon, he arrogantly said "I can see now just how much of an idiot you are. Here I thought before that I understood just how much of a moron you were, but now I understand the true depth of your stupidity."

Pointing a finger at the quarter demon, he added "The only thing that will happen here today is you will lose your body to me."

"I don't have time to argue with you." Ichigo countered as he reached up and took hold of the hilt of his large zanpakutō. Instantly, the white cloth wrapping attaching the sword to his back released itself and shrank back into the smaller hanging white cloth. Swinging the blade out to his right side, allowing the sunlight within the world to glint off of the blade, he brought the blade before himself and took hold of it with his left hand.

Raising an eyebrow, the hollow asked in a taunting tone "Oh, so you are ready to be serious now, eh?"

Drawing his own blade from his back and moving it in front of his own body in a mocking fashion, he asked "Are you sure you can beat me? Something tells me you are in for a surprise."

"On second thought, who cares? This is my chance to beat you into a bloody pulp and take what is rightfully mine."

Holding their swords out in a mirrored stance of one another, both instantly started releasing their demonic auras. Both fighters' outfits began billowing out from the increased wind due to their aura's flaring about around them.

As one, the pair yelled "BANKAI!"

Each was engulfed within their own auras, with the quarter demon covered in black like flames that had red licking the tips. Across from him, his double was covered by white like flames that had red outlining it. All at once, the flame like auras dispersed, revealing both the fighters dressed in a trench coat each and a smaller blade in their hands with a foot of chain hanging from the hilt. The quarter demon's clothing remained black with red on the inside while his hollow maintained his white coloring and black inside.

Both suddenly vanished in a flash, reappearing moments later as their blades clashing against one another's. Drawing back, the quarter demon slashed out at his double in a one handed strike, only to be parried. Sparks shot out from the contact between the two blades and the sound of the two chains on each sword's hilts rattling filled the air.

Striking out again, Ichigo attempted to land a blow across his hollow's chest, only to have his blade blocked again. Not giving up, the quarter demon continued his assault with several one handed high speed slashes. Again and again, the double simply blocked each attack while smirking all the while.

Without warning, the look-alike vanished, leaving no trace of his position. Appearing behind the quarter demon, he attempted to skewer him, only to have his blade blocked by the broad side of his opponent's sword. Spinning around, the quarter demon's sword clashed again and again with the hollow's, each time sparks flying from the steel blades clashing against one another.

"I think it's time I turned this fight up a notch." the hollow stated as he separated himself from the quarter demon. Bringing his blade horizontally before himself and swinging wide, he yelled out "Getsuga Tenshō!"

Flying towards the quarter demon immediately was a crescent moon shaped blade of white demonic energy with red outlining it. Staring at the blade for a moment, the quarter demon's sword was suddenly engulfed in his black and red demonic flame like aura. Swinging out at the blade of energy, he cut straight through the white energy blade with the flaming sword, sending two halves of the destroyed blade crashing into the building he stood on. The flames around his blade soon extinguished as he rushed forward to meet his opponent head on again.

Sneering, the hollow launched forward and met the quarter demon's blade. The two blades sang out as the two clashed over and over. Each of their trench coats billowed out from the constant movement. Again and again, the two clashed with one another, making the battle seem more like a synchronized dance.

"Got ya!" the hollow cried as he plunged his blade through the quarter demon, only to frown when he saw that he had stabbed an after image. Glancing behind himself, he found the quarter demon staring down at him from mid-air. Launching himself skyward, the double's blade collided again with the quarter demon's.

Strike after strike, neither of the pair seemed to gain the upper hand. Without warning while their blades were grinding against one another's, the quarter demon landed a kick into the side of the hollow, sending him soaring downwards at breakneck speed towards the side of one of the skyscrapers.

Reacting quickly, the look-alike managed to stop himself from crashing into the side of the building and used it to push off and fly back towards the battle, but not before leaving a small dent in the building from the force he used to push off.

"Try this on for size!" the hollow screamed out as he drew back his blade behind himself before launching it forward in a series of thrusting motions that were almost unreadable due to the blurring of his movements.

Eyes focused on the incoming attacks, the quarter demon shifted his body expertly to avoid each and every thrust. This carried on for nearly two minutes until the hollow was brought to a stop by the quarter demon grabbing his wrist. Hardened brown eyes met shocked golden ones for merely an instant before the quarter demon slashed the hollow across the chest. The motion ripped open the double's shirt, revealing a faint cut with blood oozing up from the wound.

Staring for a few moments at his wound, the hollow suddenly looked up with a smirk, saying "It seems you're full of surprises. I'm kind of shocked you actually managed to hit me. You've gotten better, Ichigo."

"Quit pussyfooting around and unleash your full power already." Ichigo demanded. "I don't have all day to play with you."

Shrugging, the double quipped "I have no reason to do such a thing, Ichigo. I can beat you as I am since I have more than enough stamina to continue this battle until the end of time. I can just take my time and wear you down until you quit."

Taking a deep breath and bringing his sword before his body horizontally, the quarter demon smoothly replied "You tried that last time and I seem to recall you lost."

"A slip up on my part, I assure you."

"Without a doubt, you lost our last battle. Do you honestly think you will get the chance to take it easy against me like you are? After all, I'm untouched, but you've already got a wound. How long do you think you'll last if I cut loose and go at you at you with my full power?" Ichigo questioned.

Sneering, the double answered "Longer than you can, I assure you."

Letting out a heavy sigh, Ichigo slid his eyes shut for a moment. Opening them gradually to reveal calm brown eyes, he quietly said "Then how about I give you a proposition."

Darkly giggling, the white look-alike smugly replied "Sounds like you're trying to bribe me."

"I think what I'm proposing will interest you, seeing how it involves you getting what you've always wanted."

Inhaling deeply, the quarter demon continued on, saying "Here's the deal, fight me at full power and if you can make me submit, you get the one thing you've always wanted: to be king of this world. Win and I'll not only give you my body and control of my soul, but I give you my word that I will never challenge for the crown of this world ever again."

Raising an eyebrow, the double asked "You're willing to go this far, eh?"

Nodding mutely, the quarter demon answered "I am. However, when I win, you have to give me access to your full power and can no longer hold out on me. I want your word that you'll do this."

Digging his blade into the ground and crossing his arms, the hollow closed his eyes and bowed his head. A few minutes passed before he raised his head, revealing a smirk on his face. "You want this bad, don't you?"

"Yes."

Grinning madly, the double replied "Fine then, if that's what you want, then I see no point in holding back any longer. It'll give me a chance to show you just how much of an idiot you really are for challenging me into revealing my true power."

"First however, I have a question for you. Tell me, do you know about the two types of zanpakutōs?"

"There are more than two types." Ichigo answered stonily.

Chuckling darkly, the hollow shook his head, saying "Not quite. I'm not talking about like how there are elemental types, melee types, etc. No, I'm talking about the base types."

Raising a single finger in front of his body, he continued on and said "The first type you're very familiar with. It is the type that has two releases: the Shikai and Bankai. Within the zanpakutō, a spirit connected to that person's soul resides. Communication between the owner of the zanpakutō and the spirit within the sword is essential for the two to grow and for the wielder to learn how to acquire the two releases. This type of zanpakutō is easy to obtain and is not limited to anyone. Demons, half breeds, humans, and anyone in between can have a zanpakutō made for them, though the question is if they can learn to control the power given to them. This type can even be handed down to the next generation with little worry, so long as they're the same blood equivalent of their parents."

Adding a second finger, the hollow smirked, adding "However, the second type of zanpakutō is quite different from the first. The second type has a single release called Resurrección. Unlike the other type of zanpakutō, this type of sword does not rely on the power of a spirit within the blade. No, it's power comes directly from the demon that wields it."

"Only a demon can wield this type of zanpakutō. To create this sword, a demon must seal away a portion of their power and their true form within it. By doing this, a demon will assume a more human like form and their power will be limited. Whenever they release their zanpakutō, they return to the form they once had and the power they sealed away is released back into their bodies. Only truly powerful demons tend to lean more towards this type of zanpakutō, those that wish not to reveal their true power or constantly reveal their true strength."

Sneering, the look-alike smoothly said "Originally, when Zangetsu was created, he was created as the first type of zanpakutō I mentioned. There was a catch though: he was created for a full demon, not some weakling that has hardly any demon blood within him."

Earning a glare from the quarter demon, the hollow persisted, saying "Over the years, your family's clan attempted to gain control over Zangetsu, with few managing to release his Shikai form, but none could release his Bankai. Zangetsu was passed down through the years until it reached your grandfather, who had a hanyou child. Your mother I believe. He offered Zangetsu to her, but she refused it. In return, your grandfather gave Zangetsu to Kisuke with instructions to pass down the blade to his grandson."

"Eventually Ichigo, you were given Zangetsu, however that was a mistake. Because Zangetsu was meant to be wielded by a full demon, I was born. When I was first created, Zangetsu had dominance over me, but over time, I gained dominance over him. Before our little battle last time, I made preparations for our fight. I was confident I could defeat you without using my entire strength, so I decided to make a change in Zangetsu and hide my true power within him, thus allowing you half a chance to fight with me."

Noting the widening eyes of the quarter demon, the white look-alike smugly stated "Zangetsu has since hidden my true power. I doubt even he knows this fact. Regardless, I used him as a container, much like how other zanpakutō are used to hide a demon's true power."

"You bastard..." Ichigo growled with anger rising within his brown eyes.

Clucking his tongue, the hollow remarked "Don't be angry with me. It was my own foolishness that allowed you to win last time. Had I known you would put up a fight, I'd have ground you down into nothing. This time, however, I'll make certain to beat you with a power that you will be terrified of. I will make sure that the last thing you know before I take over is the fact that you are nothing without me and that I am king of this world."

Drawing the white blade out of the ground and bringing it up in front of himself at a diagonal angle so that the blade was pointed at the ground, the double crassly said "It's time to show you just how weak you really are."

Tightening his grip on the blade, the hollow sneered as he said "Hack away, Zangetsu!"

Immediately, the inner world of the quarter demon trembled from the release of a thick, heavy demonic aura that swallowed up the hollow. The white aura with red outlining it flared throughout the inner world, causing the weather to drastically change. Normal clear blue skies with white clouds floating along changed into darkness and lightning flashing within black clouds. Rain began pouring down within the world, covering everything in water.

Staring in disbelief, the quarter demon took a few hesitant steps backwards, his mouth agape at what he saw. Behind him, his trench coat billowed in the strong winds, sending it fluttering every which way.

"_His aura, damn, it's completely different from before. It's like a difference of night and day. Was he truly hiding this much power from me? This is bad! I don't know if I can beat him…_"

Flashing up in his mind instantly was the image of his fallen mate laying in his lap as he held her close to his body.

Hardening his eyes, Ichigo gripped his sword with both hands, whispering in his mind "_I can't give up. No matter what, I can't back down. I'll find a way to beat him and attain his power._"

000

000

Slamming into the ground from a fierce kick, the transformed quarter demon was quickly back on his feet. The black kimono top that usually billowed out behind him was missing, shredded from the numerous attacks on him and the release of his sickly black demonic aura. His entire body was colored white now, with exception to some flame like maroon tattoos that covered his body in places. Down his back, a long orange mane stretched to his lower back. His usual mask that spanned his face was visible, but seemed to meld into his body and not be separate. In his clawed right hand, his black katana glinted in the sunlight. Letting out a gurgling sound, he reached up near his chest with his right hand, fingers brushing close to where a hole that went straight through his chest was. His black pants, tattered and torn, seemed ready to fall apart at any moment. Whipping behind him, his long sinewy white tail with maroon running up from the tip smacked the ground.

"Stay down, dumbass!" Hiyori yelled with a look of irritation on her face. Resting her sword on her right shoulder, she grunted out "Haven't you figured it out yet that you aren't going to beat any of us as you are?"

Hearing a gurgled reply, Lisa let out a soft sigh, saying "He doesn't understand."

"Do not take him lightly." Neliel warned as she stepped forward to the front of the group with her sword before her. "He may seem mindless, but that thing in control of Ichigo's body is still strong and can come up with a plan. Stay on guard."

The seven Vizards each nodded their heads in response to their master's reminder. Charging forward, they resumed the battle with the transformed quarter demon's body, each striking out and attempting to distract him.

000

000

Watching from a short distance away, Orihime attempted to suppress her urge to run into battle and protect the man she loved. Seeing the numerous injuries he kept receiving from the eight in the battle was nearly too much for her to stand, but the fact that each injury inflicted upon her beloved was automatically healing put her worry aside a bit.

"He is transforming much faster this time." Hachi commented, breaking the silence that had reigned over the pair since they had moved away from the group.

Throwing a glance over her shoulder at the pink haired hanyou, the mage stared at him, waiting for an explanation. Weakly smiling, he slowly said "When Ichigo performed this ritual last time, he took nearly the entire ninety minutes to transform into that state. To be more accurate, it took him nearly seventy minutes to reach the form you see."

"This time, he has reached that state in less than twenty minutes. His battle with his hollow must be quite fierce for him to reach this stage already."

Returning her vision to the battle still raging on, the bobcat demoness couldn't help but close her hands into tight fists. "_I want to help, but I don't know what to do. I've never known what to do when it comes to Ichigo's hollow powers. That form, it's terrifying in itself, but I won't leave or turn away. Ichigo chose to push forward, so the least I can do is watch._"

000

000

Retracting her sword from the last slash she performed, leaving a large gash on the shoulder of the transformed quarter demon, Neliel emotionlessly shook the blood from her blade, sending it spattering to the ground. Her eyes ran over the transformed creature's wound, which instantly closed itself up and regenerated the damage.

"Give up. As you are, you cannot win." the teal haired demoness stated.

Narrowing his glowing yellow eyes on the demoness, the transformed quarter demon let out a gurgled sound before suddenly his eyes widened. A smirk formed as he let out loud, gurgling laughter.

Raising an eyebrow as he stepped forward, Shinji curiously asked "What's up with him?"

About to answer, Neliel was cut off when she noted the motions of the quarter demon. Raising his blade so that it was diagonally pointing down at the ground before himself, he cried out in a gurgled voice "Hack away, Zangetsu!"

Immediately, the very air around the group seemed to grow heavier as the sickly black demonic aura of the quarter demon engulfed his body. A fell wind blew across the area, sending all of the group's clothing and hair rustling. The aura grew even larger and began ripping up the ground around the quarter demon, prompting the group to retreat a short distance.

Eyes widened with worry, the teal haired demon glanced back at the group, yelling "All of you, back! Prepare yourselves, for the real battle begins from hence forth. I want all of you to either unleash your zanpakutōs or put on your masks, or even better, do both. From here on, he will be serious and the power he will wield will be greater."

Each nodded mutely, with Hiyori speaking up, asking "What about you, Lady Neliel?"

"I'm going to release my zanpakutō." Neliel answered as she returned her vision ahead.

Instantly, the group of seven retreated to where Orihime and Hachi stood. Feeling her group was safely behind herself and out of danger from her release, the demoness drew her blade up before herself so that it she held it one handed horizontally in front of her and used her other hand's palm to stabilize it from the back of the blade. Slowly, the sword within her hands started glowing with a dull pink aura, causing a hazy pink smoke to rise from the tip of the blade.

Fixing her hardened eyes on the black demonic aura that still hid the quarter demon, the demoness coldly said "Declare Gamuza."

Shooting out a blinding pink light, the blade within the demoness's hands released a massive pink demonic aura that ripped up the ground and formed a massive sphere around her body, hiding her from view. The demonic energy destroyed and ripped the ground asunder, sending debris and dust flying throughout the area.

Settling without warning, the pink aura vanished and revealed the demoness, whose form had drastically changed. The demoness's body had changed dramatically, with her lower half the most visible. No longer from her hips down were legs, but the bottom half of a tan colored horse, making her look more like a centaur. A black tail with a metal clamp near her rear swished through the air while four sharp hooves struck the ground. Covering her large chest now was a light green top that reached just below the curve of her breasts and revealed her toned flat stomach. Her arms were now covered in black glove like material that stretched from her hands to her shoulders. Covering her hands was thick white metallic armor. The same armor covered her elbow joints and formed shoulder pads and a collar to protect her shoulders. The horns on her mask changed as well, with them no longer pointed inwards, but pushed out so that the horns flowed out away from her body. In her right hand, a long, large twin sided lance rested. The lance itself had two sharp pointed ends, each looking menacing.

Staring at the mass of black demonic aura with calm hazel eyes, the demoness whispered "It's been some time since I've had to use this form, but to combat you, I have no choice."

000

000

"This doesn't bode well for us." Shinji commented with a sigh.

Frowning, Orihime softly asked "Why is that?"

"Lady Neliel has not released her Resurrección but once since I have been here." Hachi answered. "She has not felt nor had need of it in all of these years. The one time I did see it all those years ago was to test the eight of us at one time. She overpowered all of us then. That was two hundred years ago, and in all that time, she has continued to train. I expect she may be able to handle Ichigo now."

"You're speculating, Hachi." Rose interjected. "She would not have released her Resurrección if she wasn't certain she'd need it, and by the feel of that demonic aura, she'll need it and then some."

"Quit your yapping guys and prepare for the battle." Lisa chimed in.

Throwing a glare at the neko hanyou, Shinji grunted out "Who died and made you boss?"

Earning himself a sandal to the face from the battle hanyou, the lion hanyou was about to attack her but stopped himself. Earning a victorious smirk from Hiyori, he grunted out "Idiot."

"You obviously weren't going to follow orders, dumbass, so you deserved it!"

Glaring at the blonde haired battle hanyou, Shinji muttered "Whatever. Let's get going."

Receiving a nod from the entire group, the lion hanyou led them to raise their left hands up over their faces and quickly rip them downwards. Each let out a primal roar as a white mask covered each of their faces.

"Those of you who want your Shikai for this fight, you better get it out quick." Shinji called out in a voice that sounded like it was laced over with another's from beneath his mask. The mask he wore seemed to resemble a pharaoh's mask with a flowing white hood hanging from the back of it.

Drawing his knife up and flicking it before himself, Kensei, wearing a flat mask with six slots for eye holes in two columns and three straps on each side that reached around his head, grunted out in a laced over voice "I suppose I should go all out in that case. Bankai!"

Forming around the wolf hanyou instantly was a cloud of light blue smoke. The smoke soon faded away, revealing that he now had a set of dull purple segmented bands that covered his hands and stretched all the way up his shoulders, where a thicker purple band stretched out behind him in an arch like shape and the ends stretching out from his shoulders. In his hands were a pair of knuckle blades with silver on the blades' edges that tapered back to an outward point, at which they turned black.

"Tekken Tachikaze!" the half wolf demon proudly declared in his mixed voice. Glancing over at the lime green haired woman by him, he asked "Aren't you going to release your sword?"

Waving him off like it was nothing, Mashiro put her hands on her hips and spared him barely a glance. Her face was now covered by a heart shaped mask with two large goggle like eye holes and four smaller holes where her mouth should be. A pair of antenna streaked back a few inches over her hair.

Visibly irritated, she replied "I have no reason to Kensei. You know I'm much better hand to hand than with my sword."

"Whatever." Kensei remarked.

Not far away, Hiyori swung her blade out to the side and turned it upwards so that the blade's edge was pointed at the ground. She now sported a white mask that had a single horn sticking out from the forehead, red diamond shaped markings above her eyebrows, and brown eyes.

"Butcher her, Kubikiri Orochi!"

Transforming instantly, the blade in Hiyori's hand grew in width. Sharp serrated teeth formed on the edge of the blade, making the sword look more like a massive sharp toothed cleaver blade than anything else. Black covered half the blade while the teeth were all silver.

"It's show time! Slam Tengumaru!"

Holding up his sword, Love watched through the eyeholes of his ogre like mask with two horns on it's forehead, was encircled by a flames. Immediately, the blade morphed into a massive metallic kanabō, covered in several bladed protrusions. The kanabō itself was more than twice the height of the brown haired hanyou wielding it, along with the hilt wrapped in white cloth being nearly taller than the said hanyou also.

Standing next to his partner, Rose smoothly said in an echoed voice through his bird beak like mask "Play Kinshara."

Glowing with a golden aura, the blade within the blonde haired hanyou's hand changed into a golden colored whip. On the tip of the whip, a single golden flower containing a spike sticking out the end of the bud formed.

Holding her sheath and sword up and pressing the hilt of her sword into the sheath, the neko hanyou suddenly began spinning her combined blade and sheath wildly around her body. From behind her diamond shaped mask with a cross like split eyeholes, she calmly called out "Smash Haguro Tonbo."

Still spinning the combined pair, she picked up the speed, seemingly causing the two to meld into one and formed a long dark green spear that was at least twice or more the height of the half demon. On one end, a large spade with silver on the blade and black on the back had formed, and the other end had a simple golden knob.

"No Shikai for you, Shinji?" Hiyori asked irritably.

Shaking his head, the lion hanyou answered "Not yet, at least. I don't want to use Sakanade unless I have to."

Returning their vision towards the still flaming black demonic aura, the battle hanyou piped up, saying "You may have to from the look of things."

**Thanks everyone for reading the chapter. Now, if you could do me a kind favor and review to let me know what you think of the chapter, I'd appreciate it. Till next time!**


	5. Chapter 5: A Horse's Duty, Pt 2

**Hey everyone! Happy belated Turkey Day. Ugh, I'm so sick of turkey… Three dinners this week, each with turkey and ham. I'm ready for some normal food once more, though Christmas is coming. Btw, just a simple piece of advice for all reading. Try and make plans a bit of in advance for visits. If you don't, you kind of force others to drop what they're doing just to satisfy you. It's one of my ultimate pet peeves, or as George Carlin said, a major psychotic hatred.**

**Writing is progressing, slowly. I've had lots of work recently, and on top of that I'm working a sound board for an upcoming play that a coworker of mine is in. It's a bit time consuming, plus I have to help out with three Christmas Parades. Btw, the play and parades are on the same weekends to compound my fun.**

**Thank you Kattana for your review last chapter. Also, thank you Hibikari for the PMs you sent and adding me to your author alerts. Hopefully I'll get to hear from you again soon too.**

**At any rate, I hope you all like the chapter. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 5**

Bit by bit, the black demonic aura covering the transformed quarter demon receded, revealing the results of the burst energy. With his cover no longer hiding his body, the transformed quarter demon's body was revealed, showing that his once bulging muscles were now slimmed down, but still firm. The tail that once whipped behind him was gone, along with the maroon colored tattoos that covered his body. On his wrists, ankles, and forming a collar around his neck was red fur. His abs formed into a tight six pack. The tattered remains of his pants and obi rustled gently with the breeze, along with his long orange mane of hair that stretched down to just above his rear. A strange black tattoo, that had six lines escaping from the center hole in his chest, stretched around towards his back side, with two lines going down around his shoulders and the other four running up over them. His once incomplete mask now seemed to frame his face much better than the previous one, with two black lines running down over his eyes and down his neck. Jagged sharp horns extended out from the mask on each side. His once visible glowing yellow eyes were gone, leaving in their place a set of dark lifeless holes.

Seemingly looking off in the distance, the new creature let out a massive roar, sending a chill down each of the observers' spines. Flaring out around himself was his dark demonic aura as the creature took up a ready stance with his chained blade rattling in doing so. The stance itself seemed like a declaration to the group for them to try and come get him.

"What an intense demonic aura…" Hachi murmured with shock, fear, and awe visible in his voice.

Looking at the new form of the transformed quarter demon, Orihime felt tears filling up her gray eyes. Softly, she whimpered out "Ichigo…"

Without warning, Hiyori charged forward, serrated cleaver blade drawn out to her right side in hand. Yells of protest sounded off at her actions, but she ignored all of them. Nearing the transformed creature, she drew the sword up over her head and took hold of the pommel with both of her hands. Bringing the blade down with as much force as she could muster, the battle hanyou eyes widened when her sword was suddenly caught bare handed by her opponent, bringing her assault to a dead halt.

Attempting to wrench her blade away, the hanyou had no time to react as she was suddenly flung high into the air at blinding speed. Trying to stop herself mid-air, the battle hanyou managed to begin slowing her ascension. Gritting her teeth, she glanced down at the ground, finding the creature that had thrown her was standing completely still with his left arm still up in the air from where he had thrown her.

Finding herself gasping loudly and eyes widening, she witnessed the transformed creature vanish into thin air. Immediately glancing over her shoulder in what felt like slow motion, she found that the creature was now directly behind her. Unable to react, she gasped out in pain as the creature's sword bifurcated her body. She immediately found herself falling towards the ground at a rapid pace that was dizzying. Letting go of her sword, Hiyori felt her mask crumble away, exposing her sweat covered face. Spotting the bottom half of her body tumbling through the air below her, she tried to scream, only to discover her voice was lodged in her throat.

"HIYORI!" Shinji screamed as he raced towards the top half of the battle hanyou while Love caught the other half.

Catching her before she could hit the ground, the lion hanyou dismissed his mask and ran his eyes over her wounded body. The heavy scent of her blood permeated the air and made him woozy and want to throw up. Splashing to the ground was a river of her crimson life force that poured out from her limp body and stained his clothing at the same time. Feeling a lump in his throat, he tried to say something, only finding he could not while silent tears began to sliding down his cheeks.

Disappearing and reappearing before Orihime, he gently laid the battle hanyou onto the ground, finding several worried looks on the remainder of the group's faces. Appearing next to him, Love set the lower half of the battle hanyou down.

"Leave her to us." Hachi commanded. "Orihime and I should be able to save her."

Giving the pink haired hanyou one final look, the lion hanyou nodded his head slightly, only to hear a weak coughing sound. Looking down, he saw the battle hanyou's eyes cracked open as she weakly panted. Sweat was pouring down her face, along with tears.

"I'm sorry Shinji…" Hiyori weakly murmured.

"Don't speak." Shinji commanded in a tender tone.

Faintly smiling, the battle hanyou replied "I … I couldn't hold back."

Worriedly looking away, the lion hanyou answered "Just let Hachi and Orihime take care of you. You don't need to do anything else."

Turning and walking away from the hurt hanyou, Shinji turned a fierce glare up towards the creature standing in mid-air staring down at the group. "Damn it, Ichigo… You have a lot of apologizing to do when you get back."

000

000

Eyes wide open, Ichigo watched as the white demonic aura laced with red on the tips of it faded away, revealing the white doppelganger. Swallowing forcefully, he felt his breath hitch within his throat as a trickle of sweat ran down the side of his face.

Fluttering gently in the breeze, the lookalike's now longer white hair fell down to his rear in length. On his wrists and around his collar, black fur softly rustled along with his clothing. The most distinguishing difference was the black mask that was situated onto his face. Mostly black with a set of white streaks that went from the top of his head and ran down over his eyes to just below his chin, the mask sported a set of jagged horns out to the side that were about a foot long each. Glowing golden eyes peered through the eyeholes, giving off a disturbing feeling.

Reaching up and pushing the mask up to reveal his face, the double smirked, asking "So, what do you think, Ichigo? Still wanting to fight me at full power?"

Falling back a few hesitant steps, the quarter demon forced himself to stop backpedaling and take up a defensive stance. His eyes revealed a touch of nervousness, along with his blade shaking within his hands and a bit of sweat running down the sides of his face.

"That's a good luck of fear in your eyes, partner." the hollow smugly commented. "Tell me, are you afraid, Ichigo?"

Not replying, Ichigo hardened his eyes and gripped his blade tightly. Drawing it out to his right side and letting out a low grunt, his black flame like demonic aura with red licking the tips ignited around his body. Rippling away, a fell wind poured out over the area, rustling both combatants' trench coats and hair. The aura gradually started fading away from the quarter demon, but continued to intensely flare around the blade in his hands.

"That's right, Ichigo, use all that power you have. I want you to know when you lose that you lost at your best."

Ignoring his double's comment, the quarter demon launched forward quickly towards the doppelganger. Noting his opponent was standing his ground, but had raised his blade up in preparation for the incoming attack, the orange haired quarter demon drew his sword up over his head with the black and red aura still flaring about. With all his might, he swung downwards, slamming his blade up against the hollow's white sword. Black demonic aura flared wildly from the strike, along with a spray of sparks. Suddenly, the quarter demon began pushing the hollow backwards, the aura blazing across the area.

Forced to reinforce his right hand with his left, the hollow dug his feet in and spun himself around, sending the quarter demon flying away. Smirking underneath the mask, the hollow watched as the quarter demon came to a stop mid-air and turned back towards him. Raising his blade, he readied himself for the incoming quarter demon's next attack.

Swinging out at the hollow, Ichigo couldn't help but growl with irritation when his opponent leapt away and his blade only sliced through the air, sending some debris on the ground flicking up from the force of the attack. Watching the double vanish, he was quick to find his opponent reappearing behind him. Coming around with a sweeping strike, the quarter demon's blade met with the lookalikes, the two grinding against one another. Black demonic aura roared throughout the area from the intensity of the two blades struggling against one another. All at once, the aura settled back down to running over the black blade in flame like motions. The two were staring at one another, with the quarter demon's arms shaking a bit from the strain of holding his sword against the one handed approach of his double.

"I must admit, very clever move, Ichigo. Rather than release your Getsuga Tenshō, you kept it wrapped around the blade of your sword to add more power to your swings. If I'm not mistaken, you used this earlier against my own Getsuga Tenshō and managed to cut it in half. I was wondering then about that move, but paid little heed to it. Now that I've seen how you intend to use it, I can say with certainty that it won't work."

Brashly, the hollow added "Your Getsuga Tenshō cannot hurt me. You are merely wasting your energy and time trying to come up with new ways to use it to try and take me down. Like I told you before when we met last time, you created a piss poor copy of my own technique."

Unexpectedly, Ichigo pushed the doppelganger back with a sudden burst of strength. Raising his sword up over his head, the quarter demon roared out "Getsuga Tenshō!"

Released from it's hold on the blade, the blast of demonic energy roared forth and smashed up against the hollow, sending him skidding backwards several feet before the energy exploded. A plume of thick black smoke covered the results of the explosion.

Panting lightly, the quarter demon smirked and cockily asked "How was that for wasting my energy and not being effective?"

Smoke suddenly dispersing with a swing of his sword, the lookalike arrogantly replied "Not bad, but still no effect. What a waste of energy, Ichigo."

Clenching his blade tightly, the quarter demon dashed towards the hollow. Reaching his opponent, he struck out with lightning fast slashes and stabs, all either parried or dodged by the manically laughing white double. The two continued to elegantly twist and turn their bodies while sparks flared from the two blades clashing and the sound of steel filled the air.

Suddenly finding his opponent had disappeared and appeared behind himself, the quarter bobcat found himself on the defensive from what looked like slow, languished stabs. With each stab, the hollow seemed to be getting more and more accurate and forceful.

Pushing off and vanishing in a blur only to reappear several feet away, the quarter demon softly panted as he stared down his opponent. All at once, he saw the hollow disappear also. Finding him mid-air looking down, the quarter demon quickly summoned his demonic energy around his blade once more.

"Getsuga Tenshō!" he yelled while swinging upwards, sending a crescent moon shaped blade of black demonic energy heading for his opponent.

Not bothering to move, the hollow allowed the blade to strike his body, sending out a small explosion from the impact. Without warning, the smoke dispersed and exposed the hunched over form of the double. Gathering between of his twin horns suddenly was crimson colored demonic energy. The gathered energy formed into a spiraling sphere of bright red sinister looking destructive energy. Rapidly, the energy swelled in size of the hollow's head before launching forward in a wide beam of destruction.

Eyes wide upon seeing the attack, the quarter demon quickly moved out of the way of the massive beam of bright red energy. The stream of energy ripped straight through the skyscraper they stood on and destroyed two more in the distance.

Hiding himself among the ruins of destruction, Ichigo couldn't help but feel his heart thundering in his chest and sweat pouring down the sides of his face as he leaned back against a wall. "_That was a Cero, but it was a bigger one than I've ever seen; even bigger than the one Ulquiorra used on me. If I get hit by that, it's over._"

Chancing a glance out at his hollow, the quarter demon quickly hid back in the safety of the shadows of the ruined building. "_Damn, who'd have ever thought that he'd have an attack like that hidden in his arsenal? Then again, he's never shown me everything he can do either, so it's not too big a surprise."_

"I hope I didn't scare you too badly, partner." the doppelganger called out from mid-air. "It's hard to hold back when you forced my hand and made me show you what I can truly do, but remember, you did ask for it."

Jaw tightening and face scowling, the quarter demon glanced through the remains of the building to the air above him, finding he could make out the figure of his hollow. A trickle of seat ran down the side of his face and dripped to the ground.

"_If I go back out there and fight him as is, I'm pretty certain I can't win. I hit him with a full powered Getsuga Tenshō, but it had no affect. The only way I might beat him is if I could use my mask, but since I'm fighting him, does that mean I can even use it?_"

Nervously glancing in the direction of the double once more, the quarter bobcat steeled his mind and whispered "_I need to know if I can use it. Perhaps if I can, I may have a chance at beating still yet. I just have to time it right._"

"Ichigo, I know where you're hiding. You've always sucked at hiding your demonic aura, so don't think you can buy yourself some time by hiding. Either come out and face me, or I'll force you out to continue our little fight. Your choice."

Leaping out from his hideaway and back onto the battlefield, Ichigo threw his double a bland expression. Noting this, the lookalike smirked underneath his mask. "So, you still want to fight, eh? Tell me, are you afraid of me, or are you just stupid enough to think that you still have a chance at beating me and obtaining my full power?"

Not answering, the quarter demon closed the gap between the two, blade drawn out and ready to strike. Reaching the hollow, he slashed wildly at the doppelganger's head. His blade instead connected with the white blade of his double, sending a spray of sparks out from the intense clash of the two swords. Drawing back his sword, the quarter demon started wildly striking out with several slashes and stabs, only to find his strikes parried or dodged every inch of the way.

"Pitiful Ichigo. Did you learn nothing from our last round that you cannot beat me with your pitiful swordsmanship skills, or were you paying no attention?"

Without warning, the quarter demon suddenly smirked as the pair's blades ground against one another. Using his full strength, he forcefully pushed the hollow away, sending him skidding backwards mid-air.

Rushing forward with his hand raised up in a claw like manner, he declared in his mind "_It's now or never! Please, let this work!_"

Roughly dragging his hand down, black demonic aura flared over the quarter demon's face as a white mask with twin maroon tattoos streaking down from the top of the mask and over his eyes to his chin formed. His eyes at the same time turned golden with the scleras turning black. With a mighty roar, his speed was instantly boosted, sending him flying towards a shocked hollow.

Striking out, the quarter demon's black blade met with the white blade of his double. Upon impact, the black blade released black and red demonic aura, allowing the quarter demon to push the lookalike backwards with ease. Shoving roughly so that the surprised double's sword was no longer blocking his body, the masked quarter demon drew his blade back over his head and slashed downwards quickly as he screamed "Getsuga Tenshō!"

Pushed backwards by the intense blade of black demonic energy, the double tried to free himself from the energy, finding he could not. Suddenly, the demonic energy ignited, causing a massive explosion.

Panting lightly in a rattled voice, the quarter demon stared at the explosion for a few moments before landing softly onto the top of the skyscraper beneath him. Touching down, he glanced down at the ground and looked into one of the mirrored glass windows. Focusing in on his mask, he reached up with his free hand and gently ran it over the mask, mainly tracing over the markings of the mask.

"_So my mask changed again. Maybe that explains why it feels different. I can tell I'm using more of his power, but not all of it still yet. And then there is the fact that it feels heavier than before, like the power it's emitting is far greater, if not darker._"

"Now you're starting to piss me off!" a loud roar filled the air from the smoke.

Turning his vision onto the cloud of smoke that was dissipating, Ichigo inwardly cringed when he spotted his hollow stepping out of it. His double's clothing was a bit ripped up and he sported a small cut or two on his porcelain white skin. Small droplets of blood leaked from the minor cuts.

Eyes widening when he realized his lookalike was zooming towards him, the quarter demon readied himself and launched into the air to meet the hollow head on. The black and white blades met, sending out a spray of sparks and a small shockwave. Struggling to hold back his doppelganger, the quarter demon ignited his black and red aura around his sword. Using his new found power around the blade, he pushed the hollow backwards with brute force and ready himself to launch another attack.

"Oh no you don't!" the hollow yelled as he reengaged the fight. "Even in this very fight to control my power, you still can't do anything without me. Just look at that mask on your face: you're stealing power from me, yet I can tell you're having a little trouble adjusting to it. Tell me, Ichigo, how do you intend on beating me if you can't do anything without me!"

Edging his blade forward a bit more, the quarter demon spat back in an echo like voice "I will have your power! You will not hold out on me any longer!"

Sneering underneath his mask, the doppelganger answered "You're not worthy of my power."

Suddenly kicking the quarter demon away roughly with his left leg, the hollow leaned forward and began gathering power between his horns. Crimson energy swirled into a foreboding looking sphere of destruction. With a loud yell, he screamed out "Try to block this, Ichigo!"

All at once, the crimson energy shot forward in a wide, destructive beam. Seeing it approaching, the masked quarter demon's golden eyes shot wide.

"_NO TIME TO DODGE!_" was the only thought that ran through his mind. Engulfed completely by the beam, the quarter demon tried to push as much power as he could into his sword to shield his body from the devastatingly destructive energy. Abruptly, his mask shattered, leaving his still golden eyes behind to witness to raw wave of power coursing around him.

For what seemed like an eternity, the quarter demon felt his body punished by the all consuming crimson energy. At last, it finally faded away, leaving only a trail of smoke in it's wake. Falling downwards from mid-air, he tried to take stock of his injuries. Instantly, he knew that nearly three-fourths of his clothing was missing. The black trench coat that had once proudly billowed out behind him was ripped to shreds, leaving barely half of the right side of it. Wriggling his toes, he quickly realized that his white tabi socks and sandals were both destroyed and no longer covered his feet. His pants were now torn and shredded down to the point that the left pants leg ended at his knee. The white obi belt still remained, along with the bandages that wrapped around his hips and lower stomach. Skin that was once unblemished was now somewhat charred in places. In his right hand, he still held his sword, though it was covered with scratches.

Attempting to get his bearings as he was falling, he opened his still golden eyes. Finding his hollow unexpectedly appearing in front of him, the quarter demon couldn't help but gasp in pain when he felt a well placed kick slam into his chest. Flailing through the air from the intensity of the kick, he soon found himself skidding along and ripping up the surface of the skyscraper he had crashed into.

Coming to rest, Ichigo grimaced as he shifted onto one knee and moved a leg so that he could stand back up. Heavily panting to the point he was wheezing and sweating profusely, the quarter demon tried forcing the pain out of his mind. Moving his hand out before himself, he felt glass prick the soft skin, but paid no heed. Gradually, he stood back up on shaky feet. Using his sword to hold himself up, he opened up his eyes, revealing they were still transformed into a golden color.

Appearing before the orange haired quarter demon, the hollow smugly asked "Why not just quit, Ichigo? It's been proven to you that you can't win, so don't be a sore loser. Just lay your sword down and quit."

Panting heavily still, the quarter demon looked up into his hollow's eyes. His still golden eyes flickered back and forth between brown and gold for a moment before at long last they resumed their original brown coloring. Gritting his teeth as he struggled to raise his sword up off the ground, he hoarsely grunted out "Getsuga …"

"Idiot, I already told you it's pointless to use that attack!" the double snarled as he backhanded the quarter demon with tremendous force.

The blow sent Ichigo skyward and spiraling out of control. Instantly appearing next to the quarter demon's body, the lookalike noted the black blade firmly held within the quarter demon's hand. Kicking him with a power laden axe kick, the lookalike saw his opponent smash into the skyscraper below them. The incredible force from the kick knocked the quarter demon straight through the building, leaving a hole as evidence. Continuing downwards, he crashed through two more skyscrapers.

Chasing after the quarter demon, the hollow neared him and spotted the same black blade in the quarter demon's grasp. Frustrated, he vanished and reappeared underneath the quarter demon and smashed his fist into the orange haired man's gut. Blood spewed from the quarter demon's mouth as he was sent flying skywards again.

Following the path of his opponent, the doppelganger couldn't help but pick up on the fact that the quarter demon still held his sword tightly. With a mighty round house kick, he sent the quarter demon flying into another skyscraper.

Smashing into the skyscraper, Ichigo found himself flipping end over end and digging up a foot deep gash into the building. Feeling his body at last coming to rest, he winced from the pain that flared up from his beaten and battered body. Glancing down at his right hand, he spotted the black blade he proudly wielded still within his grasp.

Hauled into the air by a firm grasp on what remained of his trench coat, the quarter demon found himself face to face with his hollow's masked face. In an amused tone, the hollow mockingly asked "Are you done yet, Ichigo?"

Staring back into his hollow's eyes with determined brown eyes, the quarter demon started raising his sword up. His hand shook, causing the chain on the pommel of his blade to rattle loudly as he struggled to bring the sword up.

"I will not quit." Ichigo hoarsely answered as his eyes flickered light blue for a moment, only to return to their normal brown color.

Visibly angered by the declaration, the white lookalike snarled out "Why do you not drop your sword and quit! You must realize by now it's over, you've lost! There is no way for you to beat me! Do you honestly believe that you have even the slightest chance at defeating me in that pea sized brain of yours?"

Not receiving an answer from the quarter demon, the double flung him several feet away onto the ground. Letting out an exasperated sigh, he commandingly said "Stand up, Ichigo. I want you on your feet when I finish this."

Wheezing and coughing roughly, Ichigo sat on his hands and knees for several moments, desperately attempting to regain his breath. Sitting back onto his knees, he cracked an eye open to look at the doppelganger for a moment before forcing himself back onto his feet. Sweat poured down his body as he gradually stood. Using his sword to prop himself up, he finally rose fully up and drew his sword before himself in a ready stance.

"End of the road, Ichigo. I'd say it was fun, but after being stuck in this shit hole and used to your own personal benefit, well, perhaps it's best left unsaid."

Leaning forward, the hollow began gathering crimson energy at the tips of his horns in the shape of a sphere. The sphere of energy grew in size quickly, reaching a basketball in shape within thirty seconds.

Gazing at the crimson energy, the quarter demon stood his ground. Images flashed through his mind of each of his friends that he had made over the years. Gripping the pommel of his sword more tightly, he grit his teeth and readied himself for the attack that was pending launch.

Without warning, the sphere of energy fired a massive beam of crimson energy. The beam was upon the quarter bobcat instantly and left no trace of him behind as it engulfed him completely.

Gradually, the beam faded away, leaving dust and smoke hanging in the air. Suddenly, the storm clouds that filled the air began breaking apart, leaving blue sky in their place, along with a calm breeze. Upon the breeze picking up, the sound of fabric flapping within the wind was heard.

"You…" the hollow ground out.

Two figures, along with the quarter demon who was now panting on the ground, stared back at the hollow. The two new comers each wore black trench coats that flapped in the wind and were a bit tattered on their ends. The elder of the pair wore a pair of sunglasses that had a gleam of sunlight reflecting off of them and had a bit of a scraggly goatee. His hand rested on the tip of a long cleaver blade with a silver edge and black on the remainder of the blade, and a white cloth like bandage wrapped around the pommel of the sword that was dug into the ground. The other man, whom was younger, held a black katana within his right hand. Both had messy dark brown, nearly black, hair that reached their shoulders in length and was unbound.

Squinting through his mask, the white lookalike muttered "Why I am not surprised you decided to interfere, Zangetsu?"

"You should know that as pieces of Ichigo's soul, we have the right to side with whomever we wish. You forget that you are also a piece of his soul, yet you have ambitions of taking over his body and doing away with him. I will not allow that." the elder spirit spoke.

Looking down at the panting form of the quarter demon, the young man softly asked "Are you alright, Ichigo?"

Staring into the light blue colored eyes of the young man hovering over him, Ichigo frowned for a moment till he heard the elder spirit chuckling. "Do not take offense. Ichigo does not know who you are."

"I figured as much." the younger man answered. Holding the black sword in his hand out before the quarter demon, he noted his eyes narrowed in and focused on the blade in hand. "Do you know the name of this sword, Ichigo?"

"That's Zangetsu." Ichigo stated.

Nodding his head, the young man smiled softly, saying "You are half correct. However, when you enter Bankai, your sword has a different name. What is it?"

Gazing at the black blade for a few moments, the quarter demon slowly said "Tensa Zangetsu."

"Correct, Ichigo." Zangetsu spoke up, earning him the attention of the quarter demon. "This man before you is Tensa Zangetsu, the spirit of your Bankai. We are one in the same, however, when necessary, I can split myself apart into two spirits. I retain my usual form, but the other spirit transforms into a younger version of me and has full access to your Bankai's abilities. As soon as I realized this battle had commenced, I made my decision and split myself. Once this fight is over, we shall become one again."

Letting the words of the elder man sink in, Ichigo leisurely stood up, saying "I get it. You split yourself apart so you could lend me hand, if necessary."

Receiving a nod from both spirits, the quarter demon returned his attention to the white double that glared at the three. Bringing his blade before himself horizontally, he smoothly said "Be careful, Zangetsu and Tensa Zangetsu. He's seriously powerful."

"We are aware." the younger spirit remarked.

Not taking his eyes off the lookalike, the elder spirit added "Ichigo, we are here to aide you in this fight, but we cannot defeat him for you. You must be the one that finishes this fight, not us."

"Got it." Ichigo retorted.

Letting out loud, boisterous laughter, the hollow slapped his knee with his free hand and hunched over to try and contain his laughter. Standing up and unexpectedly stopping, he smugly said "It wouldn't matter if there was an army of Zangetsu here to fight me. None of you can beat me."

Suddenly leaning forward, the double sneered under his mask as crimson energy gathered on the tips of his horns. Forming quickly into a sphere, the hollow unleashed the burst of energy, sending it streaming straight towards the two spirits and quarter demon.

Drawing their blades up simultaneously, the three said in unison "Getsuga Tenshō!"

Launching from each of their blades were blades of crescent moon shaped energy. The quarter demon and younger spirit's blades of energy were black with red outlining the flaring energy, but the elder spirit's blade was colored light blue. Ripping the ground up as they soldiered forward, the three blades of energy met the crimson energy beam near the middle of the skyscraper, resulting in a massive explosion from the collision. Pushing against one another, the blades of energy and crimson energy beam fought for dominance for several moments until both at long last reached their limits and vanished.

Growling lowly, the hollow snarled out "Don't think stopping one Cero means the three of you are on par with me!"

Ignoring his comment, Zangetsu stepped forward, saying "Let's go, Ichigo."

"Right."

Charging forward, the three zigzagged back and forth across the building towards the white doppelganger. First to attack, the elder spirit slashed out at the hollow one handed with his large cleaver blade that narrowly missed by inches at lopping off of the head of the double. Moving out of the way, the elder spirit made way for the younger version of himself. Entering into the fray with his black sword, the younger spirit lashed out in several thrusting motions, only to have each of his one handed attacks parried and blocked every step of the way. Ending up with his blade grinding against the hollow's black one, Tensa Zangetsu vanished suddenly, allowing for the incoming quarter demon to swing his own black sword through the air where the younger spirit had been moments before. Sparks flew from the clashing blades as the double was forced backwards by the power behind the quarter demon's blade.

Skidding to a stop, the hollow suddenly found both Ichigo and Zangetsu charging him side by side. Raising his blade and blocking the pair's downward swings, the double grit his teeth as the ground beneath him crumbled from the force the two pressed against his blade. Sensing someone above him, he glanced up in time to see Tensa Zangetsu drawing his blade to his left side to swing horizontally. Black demonic aura flared to life and engulfed the blade, making the hollow gasp slightly.

In a cool, emotionless tone, Tensa Zangetsu one handedly swept his sword through the air as he said "Getsuga Tenshō."

Leaping from the edge of the blade, a black crescent moon with red outlining surged forward towards the fighters below. Not willing to take the hit, the hollow leapt backwards while the quarter demon and elder spirit dodged the impacting blast.

Suddenly finding himself not alone, the hollow glanced over his shoulder to find the quarter demon directly behind him. Spying the white mask with maroon markings on Ichigo's face, the hollow had no time to react when he heard the quarter demon cry out "Getsuga Tenshō!"

Slamming into the back of the white doppelganger, the black crescent moon blade of energy exploded on impact, sending the hollow flying forward and smashing into the ground. Quickly on his feet with smoke pouring off of him and revealing his white trench coat was ripped on his backside, he let out a growl of frustration.

"You'll pay for that one!" he hissed in mid-charge of the quarter demon.

Bringing his blade in front of himself, Ichigo pushed off from the ground and met the hollow head on. The steel of the two swords rang out upon impact while showers of sparks were flung to the ground. Eyes darting back and forth and following the motions of the hollow's sword, the quarter demon quickly found himself struggling to keep up with the sheer speed of his hollow. It was all he could do to evade some of the attacks. Eyes suddenly widening as a white blade came in towards his face, the quarter demon found he could not evade.

Without warning, the white blade was pushed away by a larger cleaver blade. Glancing over to see Zangetsu was the one to save him, the quarter demon began to thank the spirit, only to be interrupted by an enraged roar.

Pushing the elder spirit away with their blades crossed, the hollow screamed "You will not get in the way of my victory, old man! Now perish!"

Kicking the elder spirit away, the white double lowered his head and quickly gathered crimson energy in front of his horns. The sphere formed quickly, allowing for the beam to fire much faster than previously.

"ZANGETSU!" Ichigo screamed out as he attempted to move to the side of the elder spirit, only to have himself held back by the younger one.

Skidding to a stop, the elder spirit stared at the oncoming blast before throwing a quick glance towards his younger self. Finding a nod of confidence coming from the younger spirit, Zangetsu raised his blade up and slammed it's full weight into the beam. He soon vanished without a trace as the beam swallowed him up.

Laughing loudly, the hollow smugly said "So much for Zangetsu."

Gradually, the beam vanished, revealing a shocking revelation from within that made the hollow stop laughing instantly. Standing on shaking legs was Zangetsu with smoke pouring off of his body and him heavily panting. Minor burns plagued his visible skin, along with some rips and tears to his black coat.

Suddenly vanishing, he reappeared in front of the white doppelganger with his blade raised high over his head in one hand. In a booming voice, he yelled out "Getsuga Tenshō!"

Smashing into the surprised hollow, the beam of light blue energy sent the double soaring through the skyscraper the four had been fighting on and then through another before coming to rest.

Panting heavily, Zangetsu immediately fell to one knee. Sweat poured down the sides of his face as his chest heaved to pull more air into his body.

About to speak up, the quarter demon heard something else fall to the ground. Glancing over beside of himself, he found Tensa Zangetsu had fallen onto his knees and was also heavily panting and sweating, much like his elder counterpart.

"What just happened?" the quarter demon asked worriedly.

Cracking a weak smile, the younger spirit breathlessly answered "As Zangetsu told you before, both he and I are one in the same. Due to this connection, we can share power among ourselves in such cases. The only reason Zangetsu survived that attack was due that I sent him all of my power. This allowed him to survive that Cero. That final Getsuga Tenshō he fired has put us at our limits. We can go no farther in this fight."

Flinching in pain, the younger spirit raised his left hand, revealing it was beginning to become translucent. Weakly smiling, he softly said "We can no longer hold our physical forms."

"We will not abandon you, Ichigo." Zangetsu spoke up in a ragged tone. "We shall return to your blade and give you all the power that we have left. Use it to defeat your hollow and claim his power for your own."

Casting a weak smile at the quarter demon, the elder spirit stood up, saying "We believe in you, Ichigo. I know you will find a way to defeat him."

"As do I, Ichigo." Tensa Zangetsu murmured as he stood.

Closing their eyes at the same time, the pair instantly started glowing with a black and red outlined aura. Bit by bit, the two faded away, turning into pure black and red outlined demonic energy. All at once, the energy began swirling around the quarter demon, hiding him completely from view of all eyes.

Sliding his eyes shut, the quarter demon softly said "Thank you, Zangetsu and Tensa Zangetsu. I won't fail you."

000

000

"Mashiro… Super Kick!"

Rocketing down from a high vantage point in the sky towards the transformed quarter demon, Mashiro struck out with her right leg, attempting to pound it into the back of the transformed creature. Instead, the creature spun around and caught her leg expertly. Instantly, the brown eyes of the lime green haired hanyou became visible under her mask as she stared at her leg.

Eyeing the leg for a less than a moment, the creature tightened his grip considerably. The sound of the young woman's leg snapping filled the air. An ear shattering scream escaped the hanyou's mask, making all within the area shutter at the pain filled wail. Without warning, the mask shattered, showing the pained expression on the young woman's face. Still holding firmly, the creature raised the body of the young woman up a bit, showing no remorse for the actions he had taken. Lifting his blade up, the creature dragged it back so that he could swing it wide.

"Bakudō 4: Hainawa!"

Finding a golden ribbon of energy wrapped around his wrist, the transformed creature turned his attention towards the panting figure of Hachi holding the opposite end of the ribbon. Giving a testing tug, the creature found his arm was effectively held in place. Before he could make another move, a masked Shinji flashed to his left side, sword drawn back over his head and intent clear. Bringing it down quickly to slash off the arm of the creature, the lion hanyou couldn't help but gasp when the creature released it's hold on the injured lime green haired woman to avoid the attack.

Catching the hanyou quickly, Shinji flashed away and reappeared next to Orihime. Careful to mind Mashiro's broken leg, he set the young woman down. Removing his mask with a swiping motion, the lion hanyou let out a heavy sigh.

"Orihime, how is everyone? Can any of them return? We could use the help."

Brow furrowed in concentration, Orihime quietly answered "I'm healing as fast as possible. As of right now, Hiyori, Kensei, and Lisa are passed out, and besides, their wounds are too severe for them to return. I'm almost done with Rose here. With a little luck, I should be able to help out Mashiro too since it's just a broken leg."

Focusing on the battle for a moment, the lion hanyou replied "We could use all the help available. At this rate, we won't last much longer."

"Then it's best I return now." Rose spoke up from his sitting position within the orange oval of healing energy. His usual black kimono top and pants were ripped up somewhat, with a large slash mark running from his left shoulder to his right hip.

Dismissing the orange oval of energy back into the two smaller arrowheads, the bobcat demoness quickly directed them over the writhing form of Mashiro. Igniting the orange energy once more, she quickly began focusing her power over the lime green haired young woman.

On his feet, Rose grit his teeth slightly, muttering "I can see I'm a bit sore."

"Never mind that, we need to get back into the battle. The others can't hold him alone." Shinji grumbled.

Nodding his head, the blonde haired hanyou followed after the lion hanyou. Finding the battle was raging on, the pair joined in, with the lion hanyou going in close and the other hanyou flicking his golden whip at the transformed creature.

Landing near Orihime and wiping the sweat off his brow, Hachi quickly said "Orihime, we need your help in containing Ichigo."

Looking away, the bobcat mage murmured "I can't bring myself to fight him."

"You must, Mage Orihime!" the pink haired hanyou insistently replied. "We cannot hold out against him much longer. Lady Neliel is doing her best to keep him at bay, along with the others, but none of us can keep him in check. If you and I work together, we should be able to at least hold him down for a while."

Glancing at the three fallen figures laying unconscious on the ground and the young woman laying within the glowing orange energy, the bobcat mage slid her gray eyes shut. "_What should I do? If I fight Ichigo, I may accidentally hurt him._"

"I know that you love Ichigo very deeply, Orihime." Hachi sympathetically said, breaking the demoness from her thoughts. Finding her eyes back on him, the pink haired hanyou added "It is difficult to fight the ones that you love and care about. Ichigo is our friend and has become important to the village. We do not wish to hurt him either, but we cannot allow him to escape and bring harm to those outside of the village. He would not want to do so, I am sure of that, so that is why we fight to stop him. Even if it does hurt him a bit, we must do what is right for everyone. We cannot turn a blind eye to what he is right now. It is our responsibility as his friends to protect him from others and to keep him from causing harm. That is what I believe."

Pondering the words of the large hanyou within her heart, the bobcat demoness slid her eyes shut and looked inside of herself and saw an image of the quarter demon seemingly encouraging her to help. Eyes fluttering open a moment later, she glanced at the large hanyou and sadly smiled.

"Let me finish with Mashiro first."

000

000

Shoved backwards roughly, Neliel dug her four hooves into the ground and helping slow herself down to a dead stop at last. Turning her hazel eyes upon the transformed creature, she grit her teeth together.

"_He has far more power than I expected. If this continues too much longer, I'm not sure if we can defeat him._"

Woken from her thoughts by the sound of energy crackling, the teal haired demoness found the white creature was charging up crimson energy at the tip of his white horns. The energy was forming a familiar sphere and was nearly completed.

Readying herself, the demoness watched as the beam came racing towards her. Reaching out with her left hand and allowing the beam to smash into it, she let out a light grunt from the brute force the attack was releasing. Opening her mouth and sliding her eyes shut, she let out a faint sigh. Slowly, the energy was starting to be sucked into her mouth. Bit by bit, the beam was pulled in until at long last, it was completely sucked up. Opening her eyes to reveal a fierceness the transformed creature had not seen yet, the demoness opened her mouth and fired a compressed beam of pink demonic energy back at the creature.

Taken by surprise, the white transformed creature could not react to the much quicker beam that slammed into him. A massive explosion covered the battlefield, hiding the results of the attack.

Panting slightly and wiping a small trickle of sweat from the side of her face, the demoness waited for the smoke to clear. Reaching out with her senses, she inwardly cringed when she found the quarter demon's demonic aura was building back up.

Without warning, a second crimson beam shot out from the smoke. Using her agility, she managed to flash out of the way just in time. The beam slammed hard into the barrier that kept the group trapped within. Nearly a minute passed before the beam finally gave up, but the damage done to the barrier was visible. A crack was forming and spreading slightly.

"Damn… Hachi!" Neliel cried out.

Appearing next to the demoness quickly, the pink haired hanyou spotted the crack. "This is bad, Lady Neliel. I never expected him to be able to do that."

"Neither did I." the teal haired demoness remarked in an exasperated tone. "How much time has passed since he began?"

Glancing at the sun for a few moments, Hachi soon answered "Nearly seventy minutes."

"He has only twenty more minutes until we must stop him. However, I'm not sure we can when it comes down to it."

"Nor do I, Lady Neliel." Hachi commented. "However, Orihime has agreed to lend me a hand once she finishes up with Mashiro."

Weakly smiling, the demoness replied "We could use it. I do hope she can do this."

"I can and I will, Lady Neliel." spoke up Orihime as she appeared next to Hachi. "Mashiro is fully healed and ready to return to battle."

Nodding her head, the teal haired demoness softly asked "Are you sure about this?"

"I have to help. Ichigo wouldn't want me to standby idly and let his friends get hurt because he wasn't in control of his body. I should have joined the battle to begin with, but I was too afraid of hurting him and accidentally killing him. Now I realize that I should have helped all of you and did whatever I could. Refusing to fight to protect him from harming others was foolish of me, but I'll correct that mistake by helping protect everyone now."

Casting a weak smile at Neliel, Orihime added "It's what Ichigo would have wanted me to do."

"Hachi, go repair the crack in the barrier first. I'll keep him busy until then."

Sending a worried look at the bobcat mage, Hachi slowly asked "Are you certain? He is stronger than …"

"I know." Orihime interjected. "But we can't let your barrier fail. Please, just hurry and fix it while I keep him busy. I think I can buy us enough time until you're done."

Mulling over the demoness's words for a moment, the heavy hanyou slowly acknowledged her request with a nod. In a quiet voice, he said "Don't do anything foolish. Stay alive."

"I will." were the parting words of the demoness as she strode forward towards the transformed creature.

**Thanks everyone for reading the chapter. Now, if you could do me a kind favor and review to let me know what you think of the chapter, I'd appreciate it. Till next time!**


	6. Chapter 6: A Horse's Duty, Pt 3

**Hey there everyone! Winter is in full swing here, seeing how we got some snow this past weekend that lasted through till Tuesday night. We may have only had four inches at best, but it was rather annoying since I had to go to a play Friday and Saturday, plus we went to a doctor's appointment Monday that is about an hour away normally. It worked out though, so all good. Been really busy bouncing back and forth from home and play practice. I'm currently running the sound board for a play called **_**Tuna Does Vegas**_**, which is a hilarious comedy. The last two shows of the play is this weekend, so yay, once that's done, I will be freed up once again. Christmas as always is going to be fun to juggle around with relatives. (/sighs\) Especially since my sister, dad, and step mom aren't getting along after an incident. Then there is the fact my mom and sister aren't getting along... Ugh, I wish they could realize they're all acting like children. Other than that, lots of fun with this holiday season. I'm not a big fan of it since everyone thinks this is the holiday to impress everyone and make a name for yourself. My thoughts are that if you haven't been kind to the people you know 364 other days in the year, then why bother for one holiday?**

**Writing wise, I'm attempting to get caught up again. I fell behind due that work has been really taxing, but we're coming into a bit of a break, so finally I may catch back up.**

**Thank you both Katanna and Hibikari for your reviews. I really enjoyed seeing both of your reviews. I have no doubt you won't be disappointed with this chapter, hopefully.**

**And to any who have questions, comments, etc., please do review or PM me. I am more than happy to answer any and all reviews and PMs, so long as they do not give away the plot of the story.**

**At any rate, I'm done for this round. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 6**

"Give Ichigo back his body right this minute and let him use your power." Orihime firmly commanded as she stared down the creature that controlled the transformed quarter demon's body. "I know you can hear me. You're his hollow, aren't you?"

Earning herself only a slight hiss, the bobcat demoness fisted her hands, saying "Fine, then if you won't listen to me, I'm sure Ichigo will make you in his inner world. Until then, you will no longer endanger Ichigo's friends!"

Flaring around the mage without warning was her light orange demonic aura. The sudden flare up of her aura made her white haori and hair flutter in the wind. Bringing her hands up slowly and turning her palms forward, she stonily said "Koten Zanshun, I reject, I reject!"

Glowing instantly, a small piece of her left hairpin flew out and formed a small black and red arrowhead. Bright orange energy encased the arrowhead immediately in what looked like an orange barrier. Rocketing forward at nearly impossible to follow speed, the arrowhead struck the right arm of the transformed quarter demon before returning to the snowflake hairpin.

The strike itself drew created a small wound on the creature's shoulder. Glancing down at it, the creature spotted a bit of blood oozing out and dripping to the ground in a splashing sound before the wound suddenly healed over. Releasing a mighty roar, the transformed creature leaned forward and immediately drew crimson energy in front of his horns. Forming quickly into a sphere of crimson energy, the creature let out a light grunt when he noticed the mage's determination waiver for only a moment. All at once, he unleashed a beam of crimson energy, clearly intending to kill the mage.

Not backing down, Orihime called out "Santen Kesshun! I reject, I reject!"

Shimmering to life, three pieces of her snowflake hairpins broke off, forming three arrowheads in front of the mage. Taking up a triangular like stance, the three shot a beam of orange energy out to one another. Once connected, the three filled in the middle of the triangle full of vibrantly powerful orange energy, creating a solid triangular barrier.

"ORIHIME!" Shinji screamed out from mid-air. Launching himself towards the mage, he lowly growled out "Damn it, I'll never make it!"

"_That little fool, she'll get herself killed!_" the lion hanyou screamed in his mind.

Crashing into the orange barrier, the crimson energy beam flared up against it and seemingly consumed both the demoness and her barrier. Nearly a minute passed before the results of the exchange were revealed. Standing still in the same place with a trench dug out up to where her barrier stood was the lightly panting demoness, who appeared to be completely unharmed from the attack. Moving forward with her barrier still up and arms at her sides, she quietly padded towards the transformed creature.

Gawking in shock, Love asked aloud "What the hell! How did she survive that?"

In a calm voice as she stared into the lifeless eyes of the transformed quarter demon, Orihime smoothly said "You're probably confused and pondering how I could have survived taking on your Cero. The truth is I hate battle. My entire life, I've avoided it when I could and tried to find solutions that would bring peace instead. Rather than fight, I always remained on the sidelines and let others fight for me. Because of that, my powers have rarely had a chance to be used to their fullest."

"These powers of mine, the power of Shun Shun Rikka, they are the power of my heart. The stronger my feelings are, the stronger my powers become. I have rarely ever had the resolve to fight an opponent or attempt to stop them with my full power. Maybe it's because I didn't want to become involved or just the fact I hate fighting altogether and refused to do anything. No matter what the reason is, it doesn't matter. I've found my resolve for this fight."

Placing a hand on her chest, the mage confidently added "Ichigo would never hurt any of his friends purposely. You, the hollow within him, don't care. I know when Ichigo returns, he'll no doubt blame himself for what you have done. That is why I cannot allow you to continue this fight as you have so far. I will stop you and protect Ichigo from that guilt. Perhaps even my full power won't be enough, but I can't stand by idly anymore and let you continue to hurt the important people in Ichigo's life. For him, I will stop you!"

Coming into view within the lifeless eye sockets of the transformed creature were a pair of glowing golden eyes that were narrowed. A low hissing growl came from the creature's mouth as it suddenly vanished into thin air. Without warning, he reappeared behind the bobcat demoness with his blade raised to lop off her head.

Quick to react, Orihime spun around and used her triangular barrier to block. The black blade of the transformed quarter demon slammed hard into the orange barrier, sending streaks of orange energy flaring about the area.

Not finished, the creature flashed away again, appearing soon enough to the bobcat's left side and blade poised to stab her. Again, his blade encountered the triangular barrier that protected the demoness. Striking out again and again, he attempted to slice and hack his way through the barrier. Instead, the barrier continued to hold up against his assault. Furious, the creature pressed the attack with a flurry of high speed stabs and slashes. Pulling back suddenly, he drew back his blade, causing black and red energy to wrap around the sword. Launching forward, he smashed the sword into the barrier, causing the energy wrapped around it to flare about the area.

Struggling to hold back the transformed quarter demon, Orihime grit her teeth and dug her heels into the ground. Eyes widening, she spotted a small crack forming within the triangular barrier that was slowly starting to spread. Pouring out more demonic energy to reinforce the barrier, she noted that the creature had spotted the weakness.

Backing away from the demoness, the transformed creature readied himself to resume his assault, only to be cut off by a golden whip with a flower on the end stabbing into his abs. Looking up, he found that the one who had attacked him was the blonde haired hanyou with the bird like mask on.

Not having a chance to ask what was going on, the bobcat mage found herself being carried away by a set of strong arms. Finding it was Shinji that had picked her up, she glared up at him with a heated look. Seeing he was looking off to his left, she traced his line of vision to find he was looking at the whip that ran back to the blonde haired hanyou with the bird like mask on readying his right hand to be placed onto his stretched out whip.

"Kinshara Sōkyoku Dai Jūichiban - Izayoi Bara!" Rose declared in an echoed voice as he tapped his right index finger onto the whip. The light contact itself caused the whip to glow golden instantly and ran up the full length to the flower on the end. Immediately upon the flower being lit up, a massive circular explosion of sound waves flared from the flower. The area around the detonation shout out a cloud of dust and smoke, and sent debris flying throughout the area.

Setting the mage down and turning his vision towards the cloud of dust, Shinji whispered "Did he get him?"

Searching the dust cloud for any signs of their opponent, the bobcat mage whispered "No, I can still sense him in there."

"He won't be in there for long!" an echoed voice called from high above the pair.

Looking up, the pair spotted a masked Love high up in the air hovering over the smoke laden area where the last blast had taken place. Drawing his massive tsuba up over his head with both hands, he readied for his attack.

"Here we go, Tengumaru… It's going to get a little hot, but bear with it."

Without warning, the tsuba ignited and was covered in flames that flared wildly throughout the air. In a loud yell, the brown haired hanyou declared "Hifuki no Kodzuchi!"

Pointing his flame covered tsuba straight downwards, the hanyou unleashed the flames surrounding his tsuba in a single massive fireball. Rapidly approaching the ground, the flaming ball of fire pushed aside the smoke, revealing the transformed quarter demon for a moment. Not even bothering to move, he allowed the huge blast to smash into him, ramming him into the ground as a tower of flames erupted from the impact.

Narrowing his eyes, Shinji took back to the air and quickly swiped his hand across his face, causing him to don his mask. Coming to a stop mid-air, he brought his sword horizontally in front of himself and tightened his grip on it. Red demonic energy suddenly started collecting on the blade, bringing an eerie, sickly red glow over it and in his fist.

"Mashiro." the lion hanyou emotionlessly called out.

Appearing not far away from the blonde haired lion hanyou, a masked Mashiro drew back her right leg. In a commanding tone, she yelled out "Mashiro…Super...Cero!"

Swinging her leg fluently through the air, a beam of green demonic energy flew away from the kick and was sent rocketing towards the cloud of smoke. At the same time, a crimson colored beam of demonic energy erupted from the sword of the lion hanyou. The two beams swirled together into one and began spinning fiercely into the smoke. Exploding upon impacting something, the blast shot a tower of crimson and emerald colored energy into the air, confirming they had hit their marks.

Remaining stationary, the four hanyous surveyed the destruction silently. Breaking the silence at last, Love asked aloud "Do you think that slowed him down any?"

"It lowered his demonic energy a bit, but still, just a bit. If anything, we may have just pissed him off even more." Shinji commented in his echoed voice from behind the mask.

Suddenly, a massive burst of black demonic aura flared into the air, parting the smoke and revealing an unharmed transformed quarter demon. Unleashing a terror filling howl, the creature instantly vanished into thin air.

"ABOVE YOU LOVE!" Orihime screamed out with fear in her eyes.

Quickly shifting his eyes higher into the sky, the ape hanyou eyes widened behind his mask. Not even thirty yards away, the transformed creature was bearing down on him with his blade held out and intent to kill clearly seen. Unwilling to give up, the hanyou swung his large tsuba at the creature, only to have it cleaved through up to the hilt. Unable to suppress his shock, he didn't get a chance to say or move as the creature landed a kick into his side, sending him spiraling away. Blood spilled out from his lips, but the ape hanyou attempted to right himself so that he didn't crash into the ground. Before he could, the creature was upon him and used hammerblow upon the hanyou's face, shattering his mask instantaneously and sending him crashing into the ground, leaving a deep crater behind as evidence of the brute force used upon him.

Gritting his teeth behind his mask, Rose flicked his whip at the creature hovering in mid-air from where he had finished his last attack, yelling out "Damn you …"

Before the whip could even reach halfway to the creature, the transformed quarter demon flashed away and reappeared on a collision course with the eagle half demon. In a vain attempt, the hanyou tried to recall his whip. Instead, it was sliced in half cleanly by the creature, who followed up by smashing his fist into the hanyou's mask. Smashing through the mask all the way up to the face of the eagle hanyou, the creature sent him crashing into the ground with tremendous force.

"Mashiro Drop Kick!" the lime green haired moth hanyou screamed out.

Vanishing before the pair of feet of the hanyou could even touch his back, the creature materialized suddenly in front of the young woman and slammed his fist into her stomach. The sound of crunching bones could be heard from the impact. Mask blowing apart from the brute force applied upon her body, the moth hanyou spat out blood. Suddenly finding herself stopped from falling by a strong hand grabbing hold of her throat, Mashiro cracked one eye open to find herself face to face with the creature. Drawn upwards a bit, she was flung unceremoniously by incredible force towards the ground far below. Impacting with the ground, she suddenly lost consciousness while blood began to pool under her crushed body.

Gritting his teeth, Shinji held his sword out before himself, coldly saying "Collapse Sakanade."

Shimmering with a brilliant golden aura for a moment that hid it's presence, the sword gradually became visible once more, revealing it's transformation. The pommel became a large ring and the first few inches of the blade had the guard reach up it. Five holes adorned three-fourths of the sword while the blade itself seemed even sharper than before.

"I didn't want to have to use this, but you're not giving me any choice, pal." the lion hanyou stated emotionlessly. "Like that scent?"

Earning himself a light growl, the hanyou watched the creature attempt to move, only to discover his movements were no longer correct. Smirking under his mask, he began to comment on the situation, only to be surprised when the creature launched towards him with insane speed. Unable to move out of the way, he suddenly found his blade cut diagonally in half. The sliced off half fell to the ground with a clang. Eyes widening to the size of pie plates, the hanyou couldn't help but yell out in pain when a clawed hand smashed up against his mask and started pushing him towards the ground.

Smashing the hanyou into the ground, the creature tightened his grip, causing the mask covering the hanyou's face to crack more and more. Pieces started coming loose and harmlessly falling onto the ground. With his mask completely ripped off, the hanyou was helpless to watch as the creature let out a primitive roar and stood back up. Raising his foot high up, the creature sent it foot crashing down into the sternum of the hanyou, earning him a wail of pain. Blood rushed out from the corners of the lion hanyou's lips and began leaking down the sides of his face to the ground. Stomping the chest of the hanyou again, the creature took pleasure in the screams of pain erupting from his foe.

No longer receiving anymore screams, the creature removed his foot from the body of the fallen lion hanyou and brought his sword over top of the hanyou's chest with the tip of the blade just mere inches away. Pulling it up a bit higher, he readied the blade to plunge downwards, but seemed to hesitate for merely a moment. Mercilessly, he stabbed downwards, only to stab into an orange triangular barrier.

Turning to find the bobcat demoness with her hands out in front of herself, the creature let out a low hiss and moved away from the unconscious hanyou. His heavy feet made the very ground beneath him crumble as he walked towards the demoness who made no move to flee.

"I am your opponent, not the others." Orihime firmly stated.

Glowing golden eyes appeared within the normally empty eyeholes of the creature. Opening his jaws slightly to let a small wisp of smoke out, the creature let out what sounded like an amused grunt.

Standing her ground, the bobcat demoness's orange demonic aura burst out around herself, making her hair and clothing start rustling. Narrowing her eyes, she drew her right hand up and braced it with her left in front of her body. In a low tone, she slowly started chanting.

"Ye lord! Mask of flesh and bone, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! Truth and temperance, upon this sinless wall of dreams unleash but slightly the wrath of your claws."

Turning her palm straight at the creature, she yelled out "Hadō 33: **Sōkatsui!"**

Launching from her right palm, a light blue odd inverted cone shaped blast shot forth. Colliding into the chest of the creature, the light blue energy exploded instantly and sent dust and debris flying throughout the area. The dust soon enough settled, revealing an unharmed transformed quarter demon.

Eyes widening when she saw the creature vanish, Orihime quickly pinpointed him approaching her from behind. Turning to face him, she was cut off by a voice calling out "Bakudō 81: Danku."

Materializing in front of the creature without warning was a rectangular translucent barrier with it standing nearly fifteen feet tall and five feet wide. Colliding with it, the creature howled out in pain and backed away momentarily before smashing his fist into it. Finding it not giving, the creature stabbed his sword into it, shattering the barrier.

Flashing away, the mage reappeared by the side of Hachi, who was looking on with determined eyes. "I apologize for taking longer than I anticipated, Lady Orihime. The barrier had taken far more damage than I thought it had."

"No need to apologize, Hachi." Orihime smoothly replied. "And what did I say about not being so formal with me?"

Casting a weak smile at the demoness, the hanyou sheepishly remarked "My deepest apologies. Old habits are hard to break."

Both stared for a few long moments at the creature that was turning around to face them once again. Eyeing him, the pink haired hanyou softly asked "Orihime, do you think you can hold Ichigo still long enough for me to prepare a high level Bakudō? I only need a minute for it to be ready to go."

Silently regarding the creature now slowly stalking towards the pair, the bobcat demoness quietly replied "I can try."

"Just be careful. We need this to be perfectly timed, alright?"

Nodding her head in reply, the demoness suddenly rushed forward with hardened gray eyes. Not more than ten yards from the creature, she quickly raised her hand up so that she was pointing both her index middle fingers at the creature. Bringing herself to a skidding stop, she called out in a commanding voice "Bakudō 61: Rikujōkōrō!"

Forming in a circle around the transformed quarter demon, six blades of pure golden energy appeared. Glowing even more brightly for a moment, they suddenly moved forward in a blur and locked into place to effectively hold the creature. Finding he was unable to move, the creature began thrashing about and roaring loudly as he struggled to break the spell.

Noting flecks of the blades were starting to fall to the ground, Orihime quickly released another spell. "Bakudō 63: Sajo Sabaku!"

Wrapping around the creature instantly was a thick chain of golden demonic energy. The chain suddenly squeezed tightly, reinforcing the six blades. Visibly angered by being held against his will, the transformed creature released another mighty roar and summoned forth his black demonic aura. The aura angrily spewed out over the area, sending a fell wind blowing across the battlefield.

Sweating slightly as she tried to reinforce her spells, the bobcat demoness yelled out "Bakudō 9: Geki!"

Finding his body engulfed by a red aura, the creature attempted to struggle to free himself even more so than before. The energy chains wound around him were beginning to weaken, along with the six blades of energy. Struggling to loosen the holds, the creature let loose another might roar and yet another burst of his demonic aura.

"Move Orihime!" Hachi screamed out, prompting the demoness to leap out of his line of sight immediately. Spreading his arms wide, the hanyou drew his hands in front of himself and brought both hands up into mirrored set of hand signs.

In a booming voice, he yelled out "Bakudō 99: Kin!"

Instantly materializing around the transformed creature were two thick black straps. They quickly crossed one another in an 'X' like pattern and wrapped around his arms, forcefully pulling them behind his back. Off balance, the creature fell forward face first onto the ground as the straps anchored themselves to it. Appearing instantly, numerous iron shafts smashed into the straps and added weight to them to hold down the creature.

Panting lightly with sweat rolling down the sides of his face, Hachi softly said "That should do."

Struggling to his feet by using his broken sword as a crutch, Shinji limped over to the side of the panting pink haired hanyou. Blood dripped to the ground from his chin, but he completely ignored that fact. Reaching the side of Hachi, the lion hanyou surveyed the fallen creature for a moment before cheekily saying "You did a level ninety Bakudō without incantation? That's so badass."

"It was… a bit of a stretch." the winded pink haired hanyou quipped with a small smile.

Appearing next to the pair, Orihime glanced over at the fallen form of the creature on the ground for a moment before flashing a look towards her mentor. "Do you think that will hold?"

"More importantly, how long will it hold?" Neliel asked as she appeared in front of the group.

Remaining thoughtful for a moment, the pink haired hanyou's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a massive roar. The group immediately turned their vision towards the creature on the ground, finding that his demonic aura was once more spraying wildly around him.

"Not long, I'm afraid." the pink haired hanyou murmured. "At this rate, he'll break that in a few moments."

Staring in shock, the bobcat mage whispered "It's not possible. Even Bakudō 99 isn't enough to keep him down it seems."

Regarding the struggling creature, Hachi spoke up once more, saying "Orihime, please secure my spell with another Bakudō. It should keep him down a bit longer."

Mutely nodding, the bobcat demoness leapt high into the air over top of the transformed quarter demon and stared downwards at him. Raising her right arm so that it was at height of her head, she yelled out "Bakudō 62: Hyapporankan!"

Forming within her hand immediately was a violet energy hexagon rod that was about five feet in length. Throwing it straight down at the target, the demoness watched as the rod suddenly disintegrated into twenty rods. Piercing through the straps that held down the creature, the rods helped add more weight to the anchoring iron shafts.

Returning to her place with the others as a sheen of sweat became visible on her face, Orihime softly said "That won't hold him long. We have maybe five minutes before he breaks loose again."

"How much time is left, Hachi?" Neliel questioned.

Glancing at the sky, the large hanyou answered "It has been eighty minutes. He only has ten left before it is a lost cause."

Biting lip, the teal haired demoness quietly asked "Do you have enough power left to perform your Shiji no Saimon?"

Turning a bit of a shocked look towards the centaur like demoness, the pink haired hanyou remarked "I do, but even that won't be able to keep him still for too long. He'll simply thrash about within there and …"

"He will be too busy fighting me to try escaping."

"Wait, what are you talking about, Lady Neliel!" Orihime quickly inquired, showing true worry on her face. "You can't seriously be considering putting yourself in a barrier with him alone and fighting him?"

Letting out a small sigh, the teal haired demoness quietly replied "I have no choice. I cannot continue to endanger everyone. My power should be enough to at least hold him within that barrier until his time limit is over."

"If he reaches his limit, then…" the demoness mumbled before stopping. "I just don't know if he reaches that limit. We have some time, but not much. All we can do is trust in Ichigo's abilities and hope that he can defeat his hollow before time is up. If not, I will stop him with all of my power."

Eyes glassing over, the bobcat demoness looked away and lightly whimpered. Gradually turning back to face the centaur like demoness, she weakly replied "Alright."

Turning to meet the concerned gaze of the large hanyou, Neliel allowed a soft smile to frame her face as she said "I'll be alright, Hachi. We have to hurry."

Mutely nodding his head, Hachi watched the teal haired demoness vanish from her place beside of him and reappear with a small gap of five feet between herself and the transformed quarter demon. Letting out a heavy sigh, he drew both hands up in front of his face so that they were horizontally level. Sweeping both his hands downward at the same time, the hanyou summoned his mask onto his face.

Staring at the mask on the hanyou's face, the bobcat demoness didn't feel her usual uneasiness when the others had summoned their masks. Unlike the others, the large hanyou's mask had a splash of color on it and seemed more comical to her. The eyes of the mask had three circles, with the outer most being red and the two inner ones orange. Sharp tusks protruded from the sides of the mouth of the mask, while the mouth itself seemed to be a large grin. Yellow feather like spikes surrounded the sides of the mask.

Taking a deep breath, Hachi's calm but confident voice called out from behind the mask in an echoed tone, saying "The head, unable to retreat, falls unto the depths of sea and atones for it's sins in bolts of blue, white, black, and red."

Smacking his hands together, the hanyou separated them as a light green blade of energy formed between them. Turning to his right and spreading his hands apart to take up a new stance, the single blade turned into four. Releasing them, the four blades flew forward and once more multiplied, adding twelve more to it's numbers and bringing the total up to sixteen. Stretching out into what looked like white boards that measured nearly three stories in height, the blades started fitting up against one another, forming what looked like a tall wall of white wood. The wall stretched out almost four hundred yards in length, making it seem monstrous in size to all around. Without warning, five more layers were added to the wall, making it six layers thick altogether, with a slanted like top. Forming on the top of the wall instantly was a blue roof that had a board appear on every other white board. Sweeping a hand towards the middle of the wall, a single thick blue board materialized that was slightly longer than the wall.

"Ryubi no Jōmon!"

Quietly panting, the masked hanyou quickly began a series of hand signs, mostly pointing in directions near the large white wall. Glowing to life about four hundred yards from the white wall were several light green colored hexagons. Fitting together, they formed a honeycomb with each piece neatly falling into place. The light green soon faded away and the honeycomb like wall turned into a solid olive colored hexagon.

"Kikai no Jōmon!"

On the right side of the white board wall and directly across from the olive hexagon wall, a light blue glowing circle started forming and widened with each moment. The circle soon came to be full size and took on the shape of a large black circular wall with silver outlining the circle and silver teeth that looked like gear teeth on the smooth side of the circle.

"Koko no Jōmon!"

Materializing over top of the three structures in a burst of flames suddenly was a large circle of flames. Sliding out from the flames downwards were numerous red boards, along with a single long white board that looked like the blade of a sword. With all the planks extended out, the fires extinguished and revealed a white trim end. Suddenly shifting, the boards formed more of an oval so that it was centered over the three other walls.

"Hoyoku no Jōmon!"

Panting heavily, the hanyou took a moment to calm himself before performing a few more hand signs and calling out "Shiji no Saimon!"

Forming instantly was a five story tall cube that had green energy forming the lines of the box and black energy filling in between. The four large structures were each integrated into the massive barrier, making them seem like gateways into the barrier.

"There it is…" Hachi weakly stated as his mask faded away into nothingness and revealed sweat pouring down his face. His breathing was heavy still yet, but somewhat slowing.

Flashing a quick glance to the small group outside the barrier, Neliel whispered "Thank you."

Returning her attention to the transformed creature struggling to free himself from his bindings on the ground, her hazel eyes hardened as she said "Hurry Ichigo."

000

000

Escaping the rubble at long last, the white doppelganger landed back onto the skyscraper he had been fighting with the quarter demon. Finding the quarter demon was trapped within swirling black demonic aura with red on the outer fringe of it, the double waited impatiently as the aura slowly began to dissipate.

With his aura fading away, Ichigo let out a small contented sigh. The clothing that was once ripped to shreds was now whole again. Swaying gently in the wind, the ends of his trench coat swished back and forth. In his right hand, his black blade shimmered in the soft sunlight of his inner world, seemingly giving up a glow of hope.

"Che, those two entrusted you with what remained of their power? Too bad you're going to fail."

Staring straight at his lookalike, the quarter demon slid his eyes shut for a moment before opening them to reveal hardened brown eyes. "I won't lose. There is a single reason why I cannot lose this fight."

"Zangetsu and Tensa Zangetsu, they are both a part of my soul. They became a part of me whenever I learned their names. Not only do I trust them with my life, but they implicitly trust me and allow me to use their power when needed. That is why they came to my aid without being asked to. The three of us have a relationship that comes from our communication, trust, and subjugation. That is the relationship of a zanpakutō and it's master."

Pointing his blade at the hollow, he added "Like it or not, you were born from the connection I have with Zangetsu, thus you are also a part of my soul. This is the very reason you cannot defeat me here. You are a part of me, not I a part of you. We are one in the same. Accept the fact that no matter what you do, you can never have control of my soul."

Sneering underneath his mask, the hollow retorted "You sure are full of yourself. At one time, I may have agreed that you were the dominant one. After all, I am a piece of your soul. However, I will not stand by any longer and let you have control of this body. What I said last time I fought you was true. You do not deserve to be the king of this world. I'll take your crown and rule this world, meaning I will become you. And you, you will become nothing more than my horse and find out firsthand how it feels to carry your king."

Not replying, the quarter demon fell back into a ready stance with his blade gripped by both his hands and pointed diagonally at the ground in front of him. Tugging at his clothing, the gentle breeze shifted the pieces of his trench coat. Without warning, his demonic aura flared to life, sending flames of black with red outlining them spilling out over the area and stirring up the wind even more.

"I'll give you points for going this far, Ichigo, but this is where it ends." the hollow stated as his own white demonic aura came to life. His own white trench coat began billowing out from behind him, along with his long white mane. "You will die here, Ichigo."

Bringing the blade up in front of himself and squaring his shoulders, Ichigo answered in a determined voice "You're wrong. I have too much at stake to die here."

"We'll see just how far that resolve of yours gets you."

Bending forward suddenly and dismissing his white aura, the double quickly started collecting crimson energy in front of his horns in the shape of a sphere. The sphere rapidly gained size, growing even larger than the previous spheres had.

Laughing manically, the hollow screamed out "This is the end, Ichigo! Die!"

Releasing the massive sphere of energy in the form of a stream of crimson energy, the doppelganger stood proudly as he saw the beam head straight for the quarter demon.

Staring down the beam, Ichigo's facial expression remained unfazed. All of a sudden, he launched himself forward towards the beam with his sword held in his right arm. Drawing the blade in front of himself instantly and yelling out, he reached up and swiped his left hand across his face. Immediately, the white mask with twin maroon demonic markings appeared and his eyes changed to a golden color. The aura surrounding his body intensified tenfold and became far wilder than before.

Reaching up and swirling around the black sword, the black and red flamed aura entangled itself around the sword, making it look as if it was on fire. Eyes hardening, the quarter demon raised the sword up and cut into the crimson beam. Crimson and black energy flared about the area from the intense meeting of the attacks. Digging his heels into the ground, he pushed hard against the beam, sending energy spraying about the battlefield.

"I got news for you; you're not the only one that wants to win." Ichigo calmly stated. "You want to kill me because you think you should be the king? Che, like I'll ever let you be king of my world!"

Surging forward, he yelled out "The real reason I came here was to defeat you!"

Mask cracking away bit by bit, the quarter demon dug his heels in and started to push through the crimson energy. "So I'm going to take you down! I'm going to take your power and make it a part of me!"

"And then I'm going to protect everyone around me!"

Images flashed through the quarter demon's mind of his past friends and family that had died long ago due to Kenshin Himura. More images flashed through his mind, images of the friends he made along the path that took him to avenging his former mate. The people he had met since then in an attempt to grow stronger came to mind, how each gave it their all to help him control his inner hollow.

An image of a familiar bobcat demoness came to his mind at the end of the line of people he knew. Staring at her face, he saw how she looked at him with loving eyes that told him he was the only one she wanted. Finding strength from that look, he dug deeper into his reserves and charged forward, sending crimson energy spraying across the battlefield.

Ignoring the crumbling mask on his face and the pain that was beginning to plague his body, he let out primeval roar and thrust his blade forward through the energy. Breaking free of the energy at last, he rapidly closed in on his hollow.

Stunned, the hollow straightened his form and tried to raise his sword to block the hard charging quarter demon. Moving it just over his chest, he gasped in shock as the black blade smashed through his sword like it was nothing.

Piercing his hollow through the chest, Ichigo felt the remains of his mask crumbling and fall to the ground. Looking forward with a cold, calm look on his face at his double, he shifted his sword slightly, making the chain on the tip of the hilt rattle ever so slightly.

Mask crumbling away to reveal his shocked face, the hollow couldn't help but let out a light chuckle. "Damn, what you know, you beat me again?"

Clothing turning black, the hollow's body slowly started fading away into nothingness. In an irritable tone, he added "I guess I have no choice but to let you use my full power. After all, you are the king of this world. Just so you know, I'll still be keeping an eye on you. If you ever falter for even an instant, I will take that crown. Know that I'm always watching Ichigo, and will be ready to take what is rightfully mine from you. You'll see one day, if you live long enough."

Watching the hollow vanish completely, the quarter demon stared at his black blade and softly said aloud "Don't count on it."

000

000

Large chest heaving as she gasped for air, Neliel stared at the transformed quarter demon, her eyes filled with sadness. Oozing to the ground and staining it crimson was blood leaking from several of her wounds, most deep gashes on arms and a few on her horse like form.

Staring back at the demoness, the creature let out a low growl. His body was in pristine shape, revealing that no wounds covered his body. In his right hand, the black blade he wielded was coated in blood and trickled onto the ground near his feet. His left clawed hand had traces of blood on it, with most of it already dried.

"Your time is up, Ichigo." the demoness quietly commented as she hid her hazel eyes beneath the shadows of her teal colored bangs. "I wanted you to succeed, but I see now it's too late. Forgive me for what I must do."

Raising her lance up with her right hand alone so that it was in position to throw, she tightened her grip on it. Revealing her hazel eyes from beneath her bangs, she displayed a sign of emotion that caught the group outside the barrier off guard. Her normally calm, serene eyes were glassy as twin streams of tears leaked down her cheeks.

"I am truly sorry, Ichigo." she whispered out. Hardening her eyes once more, she called out loudly "Lanzador Verde!"

Throwing the lance with all her strength, the lance was sent racing towards the transformed creature, who stood his ground. Spinning rapidly, the lance suddenly had pink demonic aura twisting around it as it increased it's spinning speed.

Not moving, the creature raised his left hand up and caught the spiraling lance with his clawed hand. The spinning lance ground away at it and poured out more demonic aura in an attempt to break through his hand. Sparks flew as the claws of the creature's claws skimmed the lance's smooth metal in an attempt to stop the spinning.

All at once, the lance slowed and soon stopped spinning altogether. Holding it still, the creature flung the lance away and sending it digging into the ground not far away.

"Bare handed… He caught it bare handed and stopped it…" Neliel whispered in disbelief as she took a few unsure steps backwards.

Letting out a low grunt, the creature started making his way across the barrier towards the stunned demoness in a slow stride. His long orange hair shifted with each step, along with his tattered black clothing. The foot length of chain rattled with each step as the creature silently made his way towards the demoness.

"We have to help her, Hachi!" Orihime pleaded with the large pink haired hanyou. "If we don't hurry, she'll die!"

Staring intently at the demoness within his barrier and then back at the orange haired demoness beside of him, Hachi softly replied "Lady Neliel told us to not lower the barrier. She wanted to continue this fight alone. I have no choice, Mage Orihime…"

"But…"

Stopped by the sound of a loud roar, the group arguing looked back within the barrier to find the transformed creature had came to an abrupt stop. His left clawed hand reached up and felt the white mask for a moment. All at once, light blue demonic aura began pouring out of the body of the creature and slowly began sealing up the hole in his chest. The hole was soon gone and the white coloring of his skin returned back to a slightly tanned color. Reaching up with the sword in his right hand, the creature smashed the hilt of the blade into the mask. A large crack formed on the top of the mask from the impact and began spreading. Crackling for a few moments, the mask suddenly broke apart, with pieces falling to the ground and shattering.

Removing the remains of the mask, what was once thought to be an unstoppable creature was now revealed to be the quarter demon once more. His long orange mane remained, but his face had returned to normal, along with his eyes. Pushing the remains of his mask off, he tried focusing his eyes on the form of the teal haired demoness not far away from him.

Eyes beginning to clear and the image of the centaur demoness becoming focused, Ichigo softly asked "Neliel?"

Demeanor softening, Neliel nodded her head, but was careful not to let her guard down. Noting he was running his eyes over her released form and then over the large barrier that kept the pair enclosed, she let unchecked tears spill over her cheeks.

"I must have been a handful." the quarter demon commented as his eyes returned to the teal haired demoness, only to spot tears falling down her cheeks. Flustered, he quickly raised his hands, saying "Wait, don't cry!"

Before he could do or say anything else, he found himself engulfed in a nearly bone breaking hug. Confused who was hugging him, he sniffed the air to find the scent of salt and citrus oranges filling his nostrils. Quickly realizing who held him, he relaxed into the embrace and rested his head on the head of the bobcat mage. Gently stroking her hair, he allowed her to sob on him. Her free flowing tears leaked down onto his bare chest, but he disregarded it, not truly caring about it.

Cried out at last, Orihime pulled back and looked into his brown eyes with glassy gray ones. Her eyes were puffy and turning a touch red, but regardless she put on a small smile. "I'm so happy that you're back."

"So am I." Ichigo warmly replied.

Letting go of the quarter demon, the bobcat demoness turned to find the teal haired demoness had reverted to her more human like form and had been joined by both Hachi and Shinji. The lion hanyou had a big smirk spread across his face while other two softly smiled at the pair of bobcats.

"Congratulations, Ichigo. You are the first to ever complete that stage of training." Neliel tenderly said. "I'm thankful you survived."

"Just had to outdo us all again, didn't you, Ichigo?" Shinji playfully bantered, but quickly regretted speaking from the pain in wounds.

Returning the lion hanyou's smirk with one of his trademark ones, the quarter bobcat mockingly said "Yeah, just had to set the benchmark for everyone a little higher."

Recovering from his moment of pain, the blonde haired hanyou was cut off by the teal haired demoness. "Are you alright, Ichigo?"

"From what I can tell, my body is fine. I can feel my hollow's power more strongly than before, but other than that, no ill effects, it seems for now."

"Well, other than this damn long hair." the quarter demon quickly added. "It's really irritating the hell out of me."

"I think it looks nice on you." Orihime piped up.

Shrugging and putting his traditional scow back on, the quarter bobcat retorted "You may think so, but not me. I think I could use a haircut, pronto."

"It'll have to wait until the others are treated." Neliel stated. "Orihime, Hachi, I think it's time we begin gathering everyone and try to tend to their wounds. I know for certain some will need more attention than others."

Nodding her head attentively, the bobcat mage moved away from the quarter demon and her hand fell upon the hilt of her sword. "I think I should use Minazuki to help us out. It may allow us a little more time to treat some of the others wounds."

Receiving acknowledgements from the others, the mage gradually slid her zanpakutō from it's sheath until it was out. Holding it out away from her body in her right hand, she smoothly called out "Bind their wounds, Minazuki."

Glowing with a light green aura, the entire sword transformed into a hazy green gas. The gas slowly began expanding out quite a bit for a few seconds before gradually starting to take on a rather large shape. A minute passed before the smoke started becoming solid and settled into the shape of a large green manta ray with a yellow underbelly, a single eye that had a red iris and yellow cornea, and a triangular like shape split apart at the base of it's tail so that it in actuality had two strips forming it's tail into one piece. The creature had a pair of bird like clawed legs to keep itself from laying flat on it's belly along the ground.

Moving closer to the manta ray, the mage smiled and gently patted the creature on the nose, saying "Sorry to bother you, Minazuki, but I need your help in healing the others."

Earning her a light squeal of what seemed like acknowledgement, the demoness turned toward the others and said "We should gather up the injured quickly and get them into Minazuki."

**Thanks everyone for reading the chapter. Now, if you could do me a kind favor and review to let me know what you think of the chapter, I'd appreciate it. Till next time!**


	7. Chapter 7: Preparing

**Merry Christmas everyone! I know, a few days early, but oh well, lol. So, I'm loving being off at this point and time. My last day of work was the 21****st**** and I don't return until the 3****rd**** of January. Yay for time off! Boo for the fact I have chores between now and then, lol. At the least I got my new computer this week, so hurray! I need to get everything fixed up for it, but it's kind of hard to do since this week is heading into Christmas. Other than that, good times all around with life for the most part. Looking forward to staying off the rest of these wonderful days.**

**Thank you Katanna for your review. I really enjoyed getting to read it. And to all those that read this story, I do encourage you to review. I really love hearing your thoughts on what I wrote. Good or bad, I love hearing feedback from those reading, so feel free to tell me what you really think about my story.**

**Well, that's it for me on this round. I will be back after the New Year. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 7**

Heavily panting as sweat slid down his face and his breath was visible due to the coldness of the air, Iya suddenly found his body starting to sway. Without warning, Ketsaiga reversed it's icy transformation and returned all the way back to it's normal smaller katana form. Trying to stabilize himself, he attempted to dig the sword into the ground, only to fail and fall face first onto the cold ground beneath him.

Flipping over onto his back, the hanyou laid still for several moments, letting his chest heave up and down rapidly. Looking up at the clear night sky, he started shaking his head and wheezed out "I can't… do anymore… tonight…"

All around the hanyou, ice coated the ground, making the springtime field look more like a cold winter one. Scars were carved within the ground, revealing the telltale signs that a battle had once taken place in within the past few months.

"_It's no good… No matter what I do, I can't get complete control of it. When I set out to create a new technique, I knew it would be difficult. It's what I expected from the start. Even though I've developed the basics of it, I'm nowhere near ready to use it in battle. I only have a few more months left before we try to end this war and here I am still unable to use this new technique. I thought by this point and time I would have this technique completed and be ready, but I at this rate, I don't know if I'll even be close before time is up._"

Smashing his empty hand into the ground, he ground out "_Damn, this is so frustrating. Why in the hell did I agree to this nearly six months ago! I really wish Sesshomaru had not put this kind of pressure on me. It was bad enough with The Thirteen, but to add this on top of everything!_"

Just the mere mention of his elder brother's name in his mind made the hanyou lowly growl out in frustration. Sliding his muddy brown eyes shut as his breathing evened out, he allowed himself to become lost in his thoughts of how he had ended up in the situation he was in.

000

000

Entering into the open door of his brother's study, the black haired dog hanyou silently slid the shoji shut behind him. Spotting his brother seated behind his desk, Iya approached and bowed as if on cue to his brother.

"Sit, Iya."

Sitting down onto his knees, the hanyou glanced across the desk at his elder brother. The demon lord was silently signing a few documents and seemingly paying no heed to him.

"You asked to see me, Lord Sesshomaru?" Iya questioned with respect ringing in his voice.

Looking up from the last document he had signed, Sesshomaru gazed into his younger brother's eyes. For a moment, he felt himself becoming nostalgic, but quickly pushed the feeling away.

"This Sesshomaru has an order for you that you must prepare for while at the border."

Brow furrowing as he glanced down at his hands neatly folded in his lap for a moment before returning his gaze to his brother, the hanyou asked "What must I prepare for?"

Staying silent for a moment and running his amber eyes over the face of his younger brother, the dog demon at last smoothly responded "To face the Lord of the South in combat."

"Are you worried you won't make it to the fight in the Southern Lands?"

Ignoring the concerned words of the hanyou, Sesshomaru silkily answered "This Sesshomaru will not fight him. You shall, Iya."

Sitting in silence for nearly a minute, the black haired hanyou slowly asked "Why are you asking this of me, Sesshomaru? You've defeated him once."

"This Sesshomaru is well aware of that fact."

Gripping his knees tightly and raising his voice slightly, Iya remarked in a demanding tone "So why are you not willing to fight him again! He is the true enemy of the West, the one who betrayed us all and broke the peace so that he could try and destroy everything our father fought to protect throughout the years! You are the Lord of the West; it is your duty to kill him!"

Receiving no answer for several moments and growing further infuritated, the hanyou started to stand. "You are one of three heirs to the Western Lands, Iya. Father entrusted these lands to not only me, but to both Inuyasha and you. We are his legacy that will stand the test of time. He also left tests for each of us to prove our worth and to show the world that we are the true heirs to the Western Lands. Mine and Inuyasha's test was in the form of the Sounga."

"However, your test was held back. It is now time for that test in the form of a battle with the Southern Lord, where you must prove you are truly the son of Inutaisho."

Remaining quiet and looking away from his brother quickly, Iya sat silent for nearly a minute before he gradually returned his gaze to his brother. Chancing a glance into his brother's eyes, muddy brown met amber for a moment. Confirming the words that his brother had spoken, he felt somewhat somber.

"Father would trust you with such a task. And I trust you the same. Will you accept this test that your father has put before you, or will you shirk off from a task that you are more than capable of performing?"

Staring down at his clawed hands still gripping his knees, the hanyou lowered his eyes beneath the shadows of his bangs for several moments. At last looking up and into his brother's eyes to reveal muddy brown eyes filled with resolve, he calmly responded "I promise to defeat the Southern Lord with my own hands."

000

000

Still laying on his back with his eyes shut, the dog hanyou couldn't help but groan from the pain and soreness starting to creep into his mind.

"_Ever since arriving here nearly six months ago, I've been training whenever possible between battles. I came up with this new technique but I've still yet to get full control of it. If anything, I only have possibly completed half the training needed to control it. I'm just not able to keep up the level of power necessary to reuse it repeatedly._"

"_Father would trust you with such a task. And I trust you the same…_"

The words of his brother rang throughout the hanyou's mind suddenly, forcing him to peel open his eyelids. Finding he still had hold of his sword, he tightened his grip on it and started pushing himself up off of the ground and onto his feet once again.

"_Can't give up… I have far too many people counting on me to defeat the Southern Lord. I have to remember what I'm fighting for. I have to win to bring peace back to the Four Lands, to end this stupid war, and more importantly, to end all the needless killing. No matter what, I can't let myself quit. Sesshomaru has confidence in me to let me take on an opponent of this caliber. That in itself tells me that he believes in me and trusts me to do what I must to end this war, once and for all. So I can't just lay here and let him down!_"

On his feet and in a ready stance to continue again, the hanyou turned his eyes down towards the sword in his hands. Calling forth the transformation of Ketsaiga, he watched the sword change into it's halberd state that resembled a large fang. Glowing with white demonic aura, the fang was coated in ice with frosty steam pouring off of the blade itself.

"Let's go once more, Ketsaiga!"

000

000

"Ah, that hit the spot." Lilly commented with satisfaction in her voice as she gulped down some cool water from a bamboo canteen.

Beside her on the log the pair sat on and drinking from her own canteen, Yoshe flashed a smile at the neko hanyou, saying "I agree."

Casting a fanged smile, the neko remarked "It's a good thing we decided to train out here today rather than back in the middle of the gardens at the stronghold. I'm certain Sesshomaru would kill us for the damage we would have done."

Scanning the training grounds they were in, the ice demoness took in the numerous scars upon the ground and destroyed trees, along with several chunks of ice scattered throughout the area. Letting out a light chuckle, she simply nodded her head.

"No doubt Sesshomaru would have both our heads for this. Then again, if he would ever want to reside within the same bed with me and ever have a chance to lay with me, he would get over it quickly."

"He is so whipped and you're so cruel, Yoshe."

Letting out some light laughter, the demoness smirked, saying "It seems the only way I can keep him in line."

Chuckling herself, the neko became somber after a moment. Letting out a soft sigh, she glanced up at the clear blue sky and inhaled the soft scents of the springtime air.

"Have you heard from Iya recently?"

Not even looking in the direction of the ice demoness, the hanyou shook her head. "He hasn't written in the last two weeks."

"The last time I saw him was a month ago. He's only written me once since then, so I guess I should be grateful he at least remembers he has a mate."

Frowning at the words of her friend, Yoshe pursed her lips for a moment before asking "What do you mean? He hasn't been unfaithful, has he?"

"He would never." Lilly was quick to counter. Dully, she muttered "Iya could never leave me, that much I'm certain of. It's just that his other mistress has firm hold of him and he cannot seemingly let go of her for anything in this world."

Not understanding the words of the neko, the ice demoness pondered on them for a few moments in her mind. At last, she inquired "What do you mean?"

Casting a feeble smile, the hanyou retorted "His duty is what I speak of. He was very busy when I went to see him last time and barely had any time to spend with me. More or less, he has been rather busy taking up the assault on the defenses of the Eastern and Southern Lands. As well, he seems to be training additionally hard. I only got to spend a few hours with him the night I was there, and that wasn't hardly enough to satisfy my desire to be with him."

"He tried to tell me that nothing was bothering him also, but I can tell that something is plaguing his mind. Rather than tell me, he just hides it and tries to assure me that nothing is wrong. It's so frustrating to deal with."

"I think all of the Taisho men are like that." Yoshe commented warmly. "Sesshomaru never wants to burden me either with what troubles him. I hear that Inuyasha tries to do the same to Kagome."

Folding her arms over her chest and letting out a small snort, the neko remarked "They're all just proud, stupid men. If they'd just open up a bit to us, we would help shoulder their load and alleviate some of their fears and concerns."

Chuckling softly, the ice demoness softly replied "That's just how they are. Perhaps that's why we love them so much. They seem invincible and untouchable, yet deep down they do feel pain and sadness. However, they never want to burden their mates with it, so they bury it and protect us from the things that concern even them."

Releasing her arms and picking up her canteen, the neko let out a sigh, saying "I guess so. It's just hard to deal with him sometimes."

"You have nothing but my sympathy. Sesshomaru is just as bad at times, however, he knows when to back down."

Standing up and smoothing the creases out of her kimono, the demoness smartly said "I suppose we should really get back to work."

"I suppose." Lilly remarked as she stood herself and brushed her battle skirt down. Swishing her tail about behind her for a moment, she quickly returned it so that it was wrapped around her hips like always.

Looking out over the training grounds, the ice demoness let a small smile play upon her face for a moment. "You've come a long way, Lilly. Since three and a half years ago, you've managed to become rather efficient in Kidō. To learn up to level sixty in both types of spells without an incantation is impressive."

"It's not enough for me …" the neko muttered irritably. "The level sixty spells are far more useful in binding a person, but I still cannot do one without having to use the incantation."

Placing a comforting hand onto the hanyou's shoulder, the demoness smiled and said "You've accomplished much, so don't let that fact get you down. The level sixty spells are difficult to learn to do without incantation. It took me some time to do them without the incantation also, so try not to worry about it too badly."

Mutely nodding her head, but allowing a smirk to appear onto her face, the hanyou replied "At least your skill with a sword has improved."

"Maybe even a match for you, sensei?" Yoshe questioned with mischief in her eyes.

Rolling her eyes at the ice demoness, Lilly mockingly remarked "I wouldn't get too cocky about your new skills. After all, Sesshomaru or Iya could bring you down a few pegs, if I don't."

"Why that sounds like a challenge, Lilly Taisho."

Throwing a grin at the ice demoness, the hanyou smugly commented "It sure did."

Shaking her head as she laughed softly, Yoshe let out a light sigh and said "First we should work on our teamwork and then perhaps some double Kidō spells."

Grunting, the neko tightly retorted "I hate double spells."

000

000

"When are Momma and Poppa coming back, Aunty Rin?"

Gently rocking her slumbering son in her arms and softly humming, a beautiful young woman in her early twenties looked up and slightly smiled at the child that asked the question. Her free hanging hair was ebony black and reached down to her lower back in length, but had a single light blue ribbon in it to hold her bangs back on her right side. Chocolate brown eyes showed kindness within their depths. She wore an open light blue kimono that had several pink flowers embroidered into it, along with circular white flowers also. Peeking out from underneath of the kimono, she wore an orange and yellow checkered inner kimono that appeared to have a green obi sash. On her feet, she wore white tabi socks and a set of light brown sandals.

The young child in the woman's arms was two years old and seemed content to sleep within his mother's arms. He had dark brown hair that was short, but shaggy at the same time. Dressed in a light brown haori and pants, he nestled gently up against his mother as he silently sucked on his thumb in his sleep.

Waiting patiently on an answer was a young dog hanyou girl of eight years old. Her bright amber eyes were fixed with an intense look on the human woman holding the child within her arms. Black and silver hair spilled down her back till it reached her calves in length. The purple and black kimono that she wore allowed her more than enough ability to move fast when needed, but at the same time had a certain bit of elegance to it.

Softly smiling at the young hanyou, Rin sweetly replied "I'm sure they will be home soon within the next day or two. Try not to worry about them, Izayoi."

Letting out a sigh and plopping down onto the stone bench that Rin sat on, Izayoi murmured "I miss both of them. I want them to come home."

"They will be home before you know it, little one." the dark haired woman commented in a comforting tone. "I'm sure they wish they could be here with you just as much as you want them to be."

Nodding her head in defeat, Izayoi looked out into the gardens that the pair was surrounded by for a moment. Kicking her dangling legs up and down a few times, she quietly remarked "It would be so much more fun around here if Uncle Iya or Aunt Lilly were here."

Remembering how in her own past she often felt so bored without a certain demon lord close by, the young woman couldn't help but feel sympathy for the young hanyou girl beside her. Deciding to change the subject, she asked "Did you like spending time in your mother's era?"

"Not especially." the hanyou answered. "The era Momma comes from was strange, plus it smelled awful when you were outside. Grandma tried her best to make it easier on us, but the candles she bought didn't really help too much. Momma and Poppa tried to do their best to help also by bringing stuff from home to help give us some comforting scents. It somewhat worked, I guess."

Casting a weak smile at the young girl, Rin remarked "At least you got to spend some time with your grandmother. You have an uncle there too, don't you?"

Brightening a bit, the little girl warmly said "Uh huh, his name is Uncle Sota. Unfortunately, he wasn't around too much while we were staying there. Momma told us that he moved out and lives on his own now. She said that he had a lot of work to do, plus he's courting someone."

Smile faltering, she added "It's a too bad Akira and Akina didn't get to come live with us here."

Hearing mention of the twin fox hanyous, Rin let a small smile escape and remarked "I bet they are just as mischievous as ever."

"They wrote me recently." Izayoi commented nonchalantly. "I sounded like they've not been into much trouble with everything that is going on. I guess they decided Aunty Sango and Uncle Miroku didn't need the extra problems."

"I'm sure they're just trying to help."

Staring down at the ground, the little hanyou slowly nodded her head, saying "I guess so. I wish I could do something to help, but it seems the only thing I can do is wait. I really wish I didn't have to."

Reaching over and placing a hand onto the child's head and ruffling her hair a bit, the young woman smiled and said "What you're doing here Izayoi is very important. You're keeping your brother and sister safe, and that is very important."

Shoulders slumping a bit, Izayoi murmured "I guess. I just wish I could do more."

"Try not to take on too much. Remember, you are still young and should try to enjoy it. Don't be in a rush to grow up. It's hard to not do, especially in these trying times, but remember, you're young yet and have a lot of life ahead of you. I think being a kid was always far better than growing up into an adult."

About to speak, the hanyou was cut off by the sound of two more young children racing up towards the pair with their laughter filling the air.

Screeching to a stop in front of the three were twin hanyous of the age of four years. Though they were twins, they were not identical and each shared traits of one specific parent. The boy of the pair had free hanging raven black hair that reached down to his mid-back in length and chocolate colored eyes, as well as a black puffy tail, all traits he had inherited from his mother. The girl though was different, with silver hair bound in a ponytail that reached mid-back in length also, violet colored eyes, and most of her father's looks.

Smiling brightly at the pair, the boy spoke up, asking "Are you going to sit around and sulk all day, sissy!"

"Yeah, Daike and I want you to play with us!" the girl chirped.

Looking back at her brother and sister, Izayoi muttered "I really don't want to play, Asami."

Both twins' ears immediately drooped and their eyes began showing the telltale signs of tears about to spring from their eyes. Spotting the signs they were about to cry, the elder hanyou quickly waved her arms at the pair, saying "Please, don't cry!"

"Then you'll play?" Asami sniffled.

Biting her lip, the elder of the siblings inwardly sighed. "_I fell for it again…_"

"Yes, I'll play."

Brightening instantly, the pair reached out and practically dragged their older sister away, each chattering loudly about what they could play.

Watching the three disappear into the gardens, Rin let a small smile appear on her face and released a stifled giggle. "Those two sure know how to play her like a harp."

000

000

"Poppa, are you done yet?" whined a small voice.

Not bothering to look up at the front of the desk, Sesshomaru couldn't help but feel a touch of annoyance towards the owner of the voice.

Standing in front of her father's desk was a three year old demon child. She had beautiful long white hair that extended down to her butt and hung freely. Her bright light blue eyes stared intently at her father, waiting expectantly. On her forehead was a purple crescent moon, a signature of whose daughter she was. The indigo kimono she was had several sunflowers embroidered into it, giving it a strange look, but a look that seemed to work for her.

Moving behind the desk and glancing over her father's shoulders, she looked down at the paper he was signing and frowned. "Poppa, will you please take me out for a walk in the forest?"

Setting his calligraphy brush down for a moment and reaching his right hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose, the demon lord slid his amber eyes shut for a moment and tried to quiet his mind.

Taking offense to her father's reaction, the small demon child started tapping her father's right shoulder, asking "Poppa, please? I just want to go outside for a while. I promise I won't ask again for the rest of the day!"

"Yumi, it is far too dangerous to take you outside the stronghold. You are the Princess of the Western Lands, thus you must realize how important you are."

"Nobody would ever hurt me if you're with me, Poppa. You'd scare them too bad!"

Rolling his eyes, the dog demon smoothly replied "It does not matter how much you try to play off of your father's ego, we cannot go out into the woods today."

Puffing out her cheeks and folding her arms over her chest, the small child turned away and muttered "You're so mean."

Pulling his daughter unexpectedly into his lap, the dog demon stared down at her. His amber gaze caught her light blue one with the two looking into each other's eyes for a moment. Embracing his daughter in a rare show of affection, he pulled her against himself and inhaled her scent. The day she had been born, he had memorized her snow and aspen smell, but even on occasion when he checked up on her at night he would inhale it just to make certain she was real.

Releasing his hold on his daughter, the dog demon moved her before himself and tenderly said "I will take you to the gardens to play instead. Would that suffice?"

Breaking out a wide smile, Yumi quickly nodded her head and leapt forward to embrace her father once more. Pulling back, she excitedly asked "When are we going?"

"Let me finish these last few papers. Until then, rest on those cushions."

"Okay Poppa!" the child brightly replied and quickly clambered off of her father and moved over to the cushions he had implied that were beside of his desk. She immediately settled and remained perfectly quiet with her hands folded in her lap.

Returning to his paperwork, the dog demon allowed a small smile to appear on his face as the words of his youngest brother rang throughout his mind.

"_You've gone soft._"

000

000

"Lord Iya, you have a visitor."

Eyes fluttering open and slowly focusing in on the flap to his tent, the hanyou stood up from where he had been meditating and said "Let them in."

Opening the flap to his tent, two wolf demon guards dressed in brown furs entered. Standing on each side of the doorway, the pair stood at attention as a third entered into the room with both men bowing their heads in the man's presence.

Wearing his trademark brown furs, black chest plate, black running shorts, fur headband, and white strips of fabric wrapped around his feet was the Lord of the Northern Lands, Kouga. His shiny ebony black hair was pulled into it's traditional long ponytail that reached down his back. On his left hip strapped in by his fur obi like always was his sword in it's black sheath.

Folding his arms over his chest and putting a cocky smirk on, the wolf demon's aqua colored eyes focused on the hanyou momentarily as he said "Seems you're doing well out here, Iya."

"You look well, Lord Kouga." Iya formally answered. Crossing the tent, he neared the demon lord and was met by a hardy hand shake. "What brings you up here, Kouga?"

"Speak to Lord Kouga with more respect, half breed!" the wolf demon barked from the right side of the doorway.

Moving so fast that the guard didn't catch the movement, Kouga was before the guard with his right fist pulled back and ready to be released into the face of the guard. In a low snarl, the Northern Lord grit out "Iya is one of three heirs' to the Western Lands. You will treat him with the same respect you would me. Do I make myself clear!"

Mutely nodding his head, the guard waited until the demon lord pulled back his fist and fell into a deep bow, asking in a pleading tone "Forgive my mistake, Lord Kouga."

"Both of you just go outside and wait for me."

Silently, the pair quietly bowed out and left the tent, leaving the wolf demon and dog hanyou alone. Chuckling lowly, Iya smartly remarked "You sure know how to pick your guards. I figured if you were traveling you'd bring Ginta and Hakkaku for protection, though not like you would ever need it."

Scoffing as he settled in the floor with his feet pulled in, the wolf demon retorted "Those two are on an important assignment."

"Oh, care to share what?"

In a serious tone, the demon lord answered "They're protecting Ayame and our son. She's carrying our second child and I was damned if I left her home without someone I could trust to protect her with their lives."

"I see."

Letting out a huff, Kouga muttered "This whole damn war has been a pain in the ass for trying to create a family and resurrect the wolf demon tribes. When Naraku was defeated, it kind of gave me the signal to begin rebuilding all that we lost during his reign of terror. Kagura, one of his incarnations, wiped out most of the clan I belonged to under that bastard's orders and left only three of the clan behind. Sure, we made do with what we had and I took up the responsibility of hunting down that jackass, but we were severely limited."

"We were trying to rebuild the clan slowly, but that surprise attack on the Western Lands caught us off guard, so we've had to yet again hold off. Of course, I did accidentally get Ayame pregnant a few weeks ago."

"You couldn't tell she was fertile?"

Glaring at the hanyou as he growled lowly, he grit out "I wasn't thinking about it at the time."

"You were thinking with something other than your head." Iya teased.

Turning a slight shade of crimson, the wolf was quick to fire back "Not like you have never been guilty of such a thing! I dare you to lie that you don't!"

Rolling his eyes and turning away to hide a slight amount of blush that was creeping up on his cheeks, Iya mumbled "Whatever… Anyways, why are you here, Kouga? I still have a few days before I'm to return to the stronghold."

"Afraid not." the demon lord remarked as he folded his arms over his chest. "Sesshomaru sent me to pick you up and take you with me on a diplomatic mission."

Turning to face the wolf demon with a look of curiousness on his face, the hanyou asked "A diplomatic mission? To where, and more importantly I suppose, whom?"

Rubbing the back of his head as he moved over to a low table, Kouga took a seat and once more folded his arms over his chest. Waiting for the hanyou to follow his lead, he slid his eyes shut but soon heard the hanyou sit down.

Opening his aqua colored eyes, the wolf lord calmly asked "Tell me Iya, have you heard of the name Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni?"

"That's a name I haven't heard since I was young and still being taught the history of Japan." Iya answered as his brow furrowed. "He was said to be one of the most powerful demons to ever have lived within Japan. From what I recall in my lessons, he was a fire demon that was famous for his battle prowess, along with his strong sense of justice. I also remember he was quite old. He was said to be at least one to two thousand years old. From what I recall, he died around four hundred years ago."

Nodding his head in agreement, the wolf lord retorted "You got all of it right. Lord Yamamoto wrote several books about preventing war and trying to make peace last. He was a demon unlike any other. For all the power he had, he had an even stronger sense of not wanting to see war."

Cupping his chin, the dog hanyou remarked "From what I recall, he rarely fought. In fact, I'm pretty certain that after the most famous of his battles over a thousand years ago, he never fought again in a war. I know also he went into solitude not long after that. Father met him at least once I think, but I doubt if Sesshomaru ever did."

"It was a rare honor to meet him, according to my father and grandfather." Kouga stated.

"Why do you ask me about this legendary demon? Not like we can go meet him now that he's dead."

"That's true, we can't, but let me ask you something else. Did you know he had disciples?"

Watching the hanyou slowly shake his head, the wolf demon grinned, saying "To be exact, he had three disciples. Lord Yamamoto took them on about seven hundred years ago and completed their training two hundred years later. Very few know that he trained them."

Frowning as he digested the words of the Northern Lord, the dog hanyou slowly asked "Why was this fact hidden?"

"That old demon kept it secret from almost everyone, other than the Northern Lord at the time, my grandfather. He only let my grandfather know due that LordYamamoto resided within the Northern Lands. It was part of a pact that Lord Yamamoto had agreed to when he decided to live within the Northern Lands. In fact, I'd be willing to wager that only the Northern Lords have been privy to this information throughout the last thousand years."

"These three, who are they? And more importantly, do they all three still live in the same place?"

Shaking his head, the wolf demon remarked "No, they do not live in the same place. Two of them left the Northern Lands, but the one remains, though she moved away from the place where Lord Yamamoto lived. The three's identities may come as a shock, but I will tell you."

"Each of the three was trained by Lord Yamamoto himself, so you can imagine each are very formidable warriors. As well, the three were said to have specific qualities highlighted that Lord Yamamoto wanted to be more dominant."

"The first of the three disciples was a panther demon who came from the Southern Lands. He was the most difficult and different of the three demons that Lord Yamamoto trained. His fiery temper was infamous, though he knew better than go against his master's wishes. Still, that didn't stop him from trying to do so from time to time. He ended up leaving shortly before Lord Yamamoto's death and traveled throughout Japan for about four and a half centuries."

"What became of him?"

Glancing up at the ceiling of the tent and staring at it for a few long moments, the wolf lord answered "He ended up in the Southern Lands, where he eventually acquired the position of general of all Southern Forces."

"You don't mean Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez was one of Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni's disciples!" Iya demanded with surprise and a touch of fear in his voice.

Earning a silent nod from the wolf demon, the hanyou couldn't help but let out a low grunt of irritation and ran a hand through his free hanging hair. "It's not as if we already didn't have enough to worry about with the Lords of the East and South, but now we have to throw a general in that was trained by one of the most powerful demons in the history of Japan. Tell me the other two are not affiliated with either set of lands."

"Wish I could." Kouga wearily commented. "The second of the three disciples is a bat demon, whom came from the Eastern Lands. He stayed with Lord Yamamoto through his death and remained there with the other disciple afterwards. Eventually, he left and wasn't heard from or seen in about three hundred years."

"However, he resurfaced during the rebellion in the Eastern Lands when Lord Sasuke was crowned as ruler of the East. If you haven't already guessed, he is the general of the Eastern Lands."

"Ulquiorra Cifer…" Iya whispered. "So two of the three former disciples of Yamamoto have become generals for the Eastern and Southern Lands?"

"That's right."

Glancing down at his clenched hands, Iya unclenched them and clenched them back for a few moments before he slowly asked "What of the third?"

"She is the one we will visit." Kouga remarked with his trademark smirk on his face. "Lady Neliel Tu Odelschwanck is the last disciple of Lord Yamamoto. Of the three, she is the only one that has remained true to her master's will."

Sighing, the wolf demon added "Ever since Ulquiorra left her behind, Lady Neliel has moved and created a village full of hanyous and other mixed demon and human blood people. She protects it and has created a group of powerful fighters to help her in doing so. However, they've remained in seclusion for the most part. Only due to the Lords of the North keeping an eye on them and certain relationships with her is the reason I know where she is."

"Relationships?"

Looking away for a moment, the wolf lord let out a sigh before replying with "My uncle, who was the true heir to the Northern Lands, fell in love with Lady Neliel."

"What happened?" Iya prodded.

"My uncle and Lady Neliel courted for some time. During this time, Ulquiorra Cifer was still within the Northern Lands. Unfortunately, a demon mage attacked during this time. The mage had the power to take control of a person's mind. He did so with my uncle and pitted him against Lady Neliel. Ulquiorra Cifer fought the mage and tried to break the spell while Lady Neliel was forced to defend herself against my uncle. In the end, during the battle, my uncle ended up getting killed by Lady Neliel before the mage was killed. She was beside herself with grief from the results of the battle. My father told me that he had never seen someone who had been so in love before as those two, nor had he ever seen someone suffer so much because of that love when one died."

Remaining silent for a few seconds, he picked up the story and said "Lady Neliel became distant after that and rarely met with others. She immersed herself in spending time with her younger hanyou half sister and …"

"Wait, she has a hanyou sister?"

"Yeah, she did. Unfortunately, her sister passed away while she was rather young yet from a disease. That pushed Lady Neliel even further away from all contact." Kouga explained.

Regarding the wolf demon silently, the hanyou slowly asked "How long has it been since you've met with her?"

Turning his vision to the ceiling of the tent as he contemplated the question, the wolf demon slowly lowered his gaze and answered "It's been at least eight years since I've last met with her. My father rarely got to meet with her also after my uncle died."

"So, what do you hope to gain by visiting her?" Iya inquired.

Staring down at his hands for a moment, the wolf demon quickly retorted "I wish to try and convince her to join the Northern and Western Lands as an ally in this war. With the potential close to this war fast approaching, we need all the allies we can get to mount our final offensive on the Southern and Eastern Capitals. Lady Neliel knows both the generals of the South and East the best. My hope is she can speak with them and negotiate with them to surrender peacefully. However, I'm guessing those two generals won't back down seeing how they have already come this far."

Brown furrowing for a moment, the hanyou softly asked "What makes you think she would be a valuable ally, other than the fact she is a former student of Yamamoto?"

Letting out a small huff, Kouga smirked and replied "She was the strongest of the three. Lord Yamamoto himself praised her frequently as being the strongest of the group. Lady Neliel was quite capable of defending herself against the likes of Ulquiorra Cifer or Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez without any aide."

"Thus the reason you want her to join. You think if things do turn ugly, you can at the least turn her loose on either of the generals on the opposing side."

Shrugging, the wolf lord continued to smirk and said "Yeah that would work. I just think Lady Neliel would be a very valuable ally to have for the upcoming battles. I'm hoping that she'll join us, but I'll warn you now, she is quite stubborn and will try to cling to her master's principles more than likely. My hope is she'll realize that all of Japan is on the line and that if we can't end this war soon, there may not be a second chance for her to join."

Pondering on the words of the wolf demon for a few moments silently, Iya at last spoke up, asking "Do you think she'll actually join up?"

"I… I don't know."

Mutely nodding his head, the hanyou let a small smirk appear and said "I will help you."

"Good. When can you be ready to leave?" Kouga asked.

"I can leave whenever you're ready. How far is it?"

Throwing his trademark smirk back at the hanyou, the wolf lord remarked "It's a few days away from here. Let's get going!"

000

000

"Shippou, do you have to go?" a young woman's voice softly asked.

Stiffening at the sound of his mate's concerned question, the kitsune slowly began dressing once more and preparing for his departure. Starting to pull his long butt length orange and brown hair back into it's traditional ponytail, he came to a stop for a moment as he stared at the baby blue ribbon he held in his clawed hand. Fond memories of his younger childhood floated into his mind of the days when his father still lived and took care of him. A flash of sadness filled him suddenly as he remembered the last time he saw his father.

After his father had been killed by the murderous Thunder Brothers, he had found his father's baby blue obi and had taken it to use as a ribbon to hold up his hair. Although it made him look more feminine, he had decided to keep the obi as a hair ribbon. Years had passed since then and he continued to use the same old ribbon, mostly in memory of his father.

Snapping out of his memories, he quickly tied his hair back into it's usual ponytail. Adjusting his baby blue top, he ran his eyes over his darker blue pants to find they were in place. Sliding on a light metallic battle skirt, the kitsune tied a baby blue obi around his waist. Picking up the nearby gray and black breast plate, he slid it on and tied the shoulder pads to it so that the two held each other in place. Swishing his long blonde tail behind himself once, he glanced into the mirror before him to find his jade eyes staring back. Brushing a few strands of loose hair behind his pointed ears, he stomped his foot to test the light blue boots on his feet. Grabbing his small nodachi sword and sliding it into his obi on his left hip, he turned towards his waiting mate.

Staring straight at him with a sad expression on her face was a young female fox hanyou, whose shiny reddish-orange hair reached just above her rear and a pair of cone shaped fox ears on her head that had white on the tips of them twitched. Her eyes were an auburn color and her body petite, other than the visible bulge on her stomach, giving signs she was with child. Behind her, a similar colored tail with white on the tip of it, swished. She wore a beautiful golden colored kimono that had a vivid scene depicted within it. On her feet were a set of wooden geta that seemed well made.

Letting out a long sigh, the kitsune crossed the distance between himself and his mate quickly and drew her into a tight embrace. Picking up the scent of salt, Shippou couldn't help but feel tears beginning to well up within his own eyes, but pushed them back.

"It's not that I want to go, Ayaka." Shippou whispered into her hair. Drawing back a bit, he stared into her auburn eyes, saying "Inuyasha came and asked me personally to come help him. I can't turn him down."

Sliding his eyes away, he murmured "I owe Kagome and Inuyasha both my life for taking care of me and helping raise me when I was a kid. If not for them, Sango, Miroku, and Kirara, I would have long since been dead."

Looking away, the kitsune hanyou wrapped her arms around her waist and turned away from her mate. "I … I just worry about you going out into this battle."

"Ayaka, do you remember what I told you when we started courting?" Shippou asked. Moving behind his mate and wrapping his arms protectively around her waist, he pulled her into his chest and buried his nose into her hair.

Remaining silent for a minute, Ayaka whispered "You promised to always return to me, no matter what happens."

Reaching up and placing a clawed hand onto her mate's arm, she added softly "I want to believe you, but I'm scared of losing you. This war, it's claimed so many people from this village. I know this village is nothing more than a village that aides other villages and helps protect the borders, but even so, we've lost so many. I'm scared you will one day become one of the ones we lose."

Tightening his embrace, the kitsune raised his head up to his mate's ear and quietly replied "I can't predict the future. One day, my time will come but not until I've had a long life by your side and seen our child raised. Long ago, I never dreamed I would be this far along in life."

"Much like how Kohaku never thought he would be married and have a child of his own. The same could be said about him resurrecting this very village we live in."

"Ayaka, I ask that you have faith. Nothing, not even death itself, will ever take away my desire to return to your side. I will do everything possible to return to you."

Turning to face her mate as fresh tears spilled down her cheeks, the kitsune hanyou mutely nodded her head. Laying her head onto her mate's chest, she slid her eyes shut for a moment and whispered "I love you, Shippou."

"I love you too, Ayaka."

Leaning down and tilting his mate's head back, he tenderly kissed her on the lips. The kiss did not last long, only a few seconds, but said more than words alone could.

Backing away, the kitsune reached out and delicately touched his mate's stomach and sadly smiled for a moment. "I hope to be home and this war is over before our child is born. I would hate for he or she to come into this world with such sadness."

"They would be loved, no matter how things are." Ayaka warmly remarked with a small smile forming on her face.

Nodding his head, Shippou smiled kindly at his mate before once more embracing her. Pulling back and kissing her on the forehead, he softly said "I've already asked Kohaku and the others to take care of anything you need done. Don't be afraid to ask them."

Playfully, the hanyou commented "You worry too much."

"Maybe." the kitsune retorted with a smirk. Moving towards the door, he stopped at it's frame and picked up a beautifully crafted naginata made of solid oak with a sharp blade on the tip and red horsehair on the other end. Lifting up a red shield that laid beside it, he placed the shield onto his back and secured it.

Turning back once more to look at his mate, he smiled brightly, saying "I will be back within a few months. Don't worry, I'll return home before our child comes."

"I know you will, Shippou. Be safe."

Inclining his head in acknowledgement, the fox demon stepped out of his home and headed towards the outer gates of the village. His steps were heavy with each movement he made, all the while his heart felt as if it had had a knife plunged deep into it and spun around and around.

Gripping his naginata a little tighter, he whispered to himself "I will return. I promise, Ayaka."

**Thanks everyone for reading the chapter. Now, if you could do me a kind favor and review to let me know what you think of the chapter, I'd appreciate it. Till next time!**


	8. Chapter 8: Lost, but Found

**Hey there everyone. So, I had a pretty good day, which was great since this week wasn't the greatest, hehe. I spent the day with my grandparents (mom's side), well, mainly my grandfather due that my grandmother's sister had died (my great aunt? I think that's right). She went to the funeral while I stayed with grandpa. He slept a lot, but it was nice to get to be useful. Sometimes it feels like I don't do enough, but I suppose in different ways I do. (/Shrugs\) At any rate, last week was pretty good, seeing how I was off and got to sleep in all but one day. That one day I woke to my mate banging on the door, trying to get me up to let her back in the house. She locked herself out, hehe. Btw, I love you honey, since I know you're reading this. Other than that, not much going on in life.**

**Got a bit of writing done while off, but not nearly enough. Feh, I wasted more time on other stuff than writing. Oh well, I'm still doing well enough on it.**

**Thank you as always to Kattana for reviewing. I really appreciate it. Just seeing your review makes me believe I'm doing something right.**

**Btw, the rating of this story may change in the future, pending my decision on a few things, so just to warn everyone. It'll go from T to M. Kind of like how **_**Another**_** should have been done, hehe.**

**So anyways, that's it for me. I hope to see some new people in the reviews next go around. Seriously, I do like hearing feedback everybody. It helps me decide if I'm going in the right direction or if I need to change anything. At any rate, it helps, so please do review or send me a PM if you're shy about it.**

**Take care everyone and enjoy!**

**Chapter 8**

Running side by side at top speed through the Northern Lands in silence were Iya Taisho and Kouga, Lord of the North. The only sound heard throughout the area was their feet hitting the ground and rustling of their clothing.

"Iya, we have to make a stop before we reach Neliel's. There is someone we're going to meet."

Only acknowledging the remark with a nod, the dog hanyou kept his muddy brown eyes focused on the forest in front of the pair. Swiveling his ears, he attempted to pick up any sounds of a possible ambush, as well kept taking intermediate sniffs of the air to sample it for possible enemies in the area.

Suddenly feeling his curiosity piqued, the hanyou spoke up for the first time all day. "Who are we meeting with Kouga?"

"He's a demon who has lived within the Northern Lands for quite a few years. This demon, he's known Neliel even longer than me and is one of her most trusted friends. You may have heard of him, seeing how he's a famous sword smith. His name is Kisuke Urahara."

Casting a slightly surprised look at the wolf lord, Iya remarked "I've heard of him. Kisuke Urahara is famous for creating zanpakutōs. In fact, he created my mother's sword, Kimi, many years ago by order of my father. I eventually gave it to Lilly some time after she became a hanyou. Also, my former partner, Ichigo Kurosaki, he had a zanpakutō that came from Kisuke too that had been made for Ichigo's clan."

Nodding his head, the wolf demon replied "Kisuke Urahara has made many zanpakutōs that have become quite famous. Besides being a sword smith, he is one of the best gathers of intelligence on the Four Lands."

"So he has his nose poked in everyone's business?" the dog hanyou questioned sarcastically.

"More or less." Kouga answered nonchalantly. "It seems to be a hobby of his. He's warned the Northern Lands a few times when something big was going to happen, but when the war began, we received no word from him. I haven't confronted him on the subject, but at this point and time, there is no need to."

Pursing his lips momentarily, the hanyou was quick to ask "Has he done any intel gathering for your lands since the war started?"

"Yeah, a bit here and there. Kisuke seemed to want to stay out of the war for the most part early on. However, when he learned a former apprentice of his was supplying zanpakutōs for the Eastern and Southern Lands, he started helping out more than before. In fact, he's been sending info even without me asking him or asking for payment for that matter." the wolf lord commented.

Digesting the information fed to him, Iya remained silent for a minute before speaking up once again. "Has he given reason why he wants to help more now? And for that matter, does he have a personal grudge against this former apprentice of his?"

"That's a very interesting question." a voice said from a tree above the pair.

Skidding to a stop and spinning around quickly, Iya drew Ketsaiga from it's sheath with speed he rarely showed and had it at the ready before himself as he came to rest. Looking up into the nearby trees, he discovered a demon standing on one of the branches, staring down at the pair with a big goofy grin on his face.

The demon appeared to have sandy blonde hair jutting out from under a green and white bucket like hat, a non-bulky frame, yet not too thin, and eyes hidden within the shadows of his hat. His outer dark green top flowed loosely down to his knees in length. A white diamond pattern was etched into the bottom of the top, giving it a consistent pattern. Underneath the outer top, he wore a green top and pants, with a pair of geta strapped onto his feet. In his left hand, he held a light colored wooden cane that seemed to give him the appearance of being non-threatening.

"Hold on Iya!" Kouga commanded as he moved between the pair. "That's who we're meeting."

Not standing down, Iya stood his ground. Agitated by the standoff between the hanyou and the sword smith, the wolf lord heavily sighed before speaking up. "Kisuke, why did you meet us out here? I thought we were to meet at your home."

"It's such a beautiful day, so I thought I might as well head out early." Kisuke piped up in a chipper tone as he cast a smile at the wolf lord. "Besides, it was out of your way. I figured it would be easier to find you than have you come all the way to my home."

Regarding the hanyou momentarily, the sword smith smoothly said "You are Iya Taisho, brother to Lord Sesshomaru of the Western Lands."

Noting the rigid stance of the dog hanyou, Kisuke added "I apologize for getting the drop on the two of you. It was bad manners for me to do such a thing. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Kisuke Urahara, a simple lowly sword smith that resides here within the Northern Lands."

Watching the demon bow respectfully to him, Iya remained silent for a few more moments before lightly chuckling as he sheathed Ketsaiga. "Lowly sword smith, very amusing. I know for certain that you're very much more than that, Kisuke Urahara. Lord Kouga speaks highly of you, as did a former pupil of yours that traveled with me for quite a few years. How is Ichigo doing?"

"Ah, so you were the partner that Ichigo mentioned. I had wondered…"

"Ichigo was right, you can be annoying when you know the answers already." the dog hanyou darkly muttered.

Grinning still, the sword smith settled a bit, saying "Sadly, I haven't seen Ichigo in quite some time, though he should be coming to get his blade sharpened soon. He left me about eight and a half years ago to go train with someone else. I've only seen him a handful of times since then, mainly when he needed his sword sharpened or so on."

"I see."

"Now then, shall we get going?" Kouga asked.

"Kisuke, I have a few questions to ask you." Iya stated.

Throwing a glare at the hanyou, the wolf lord began to reply, only to be cut off by the sword smith. "It's alright, Lord Kouga. I think Lord Iya here deserves some answers."

Seeing the wolf demon quiet, the dog hanyou calmly asked "Kisuke, tell me, why have you begun to help the Northern Lands far more than before with information gathering? Kouga told me that you originally gave info sporadically, however now you give it more freely and frequently. That begs the question what happened and why the change how you operated."

Removing his green and white hat to reveal his light blue eyes for the first time, the sword smith let out a soft sigh and ran his left hand through his blonde locks. Leaping down to the ground, he cast a weak smile at the pair for a moment.

"The reasons I decided to help out more with the ongoing war was partially motivated by the news of a certain past apprentice of mine supplying the Eastern and Southern Lands with zanpakutōs. Yes, I have a grudge against him. What he has done in the past under my tutelage is still fresh in my mind, but it alone was not what drove me to decide to help the Northern Lands even more than previously."

Moving to a tree and leaning back against it, he set his cane down against the tree too and folded his arms over his chest before letting out a heavy sigh. "Originally when this war began, I had interest in it, but I let myself not be troubled by it. The Northern and Western Lands seemed to quickly come to the defense of their lands, so I just sat by and fed info to the Northern Lands when asked to."

"However, the longer this war has dragged on, the more I've begun to realize just how costly it is to both sides. This was confirmed when I visited a local village and found only women and a children tending to the chores that men typically did. Many of the women had lost their husbands, as well, the children their fathers. It was then that I realized that all these people had put their all into winning this war, yet I sat on the sidelines and let others do the work. I immediately saw I had been wrong to sit by and let things progress as they had. I made a vow to myself to never do such a thing once again and invested all of my time heavily into finding anything of use for the Northern Lands to use as intel."

Placing his hat back on his head, the sword smith weakly grinned. "There are other reasons, but none more important than helping the people of these lands return to the life they once had. No one wins when you lose all the people around you."

Nodding his head in understanding, the dog hanyou quietly replied "You're right; no one wins in a war, especially the people of the lands."

"Before you ask, I will not let my personal grudge get in the way. I will deal with my former apprentice in due time."

"I understand." Iya remarked. Becoming quiet for a moment, he quickly asked "Do you know of our plans?"

Waving off the hanyou, Kisuke chirped back "Don't worry, I have no intentions of letting that information be passed out to anyone. I understand the fact that you need this to remain quiet and a secret for as long as possible. Much like whom your source is within the Eastern Lands."

Throwing a glare that could kill at the sword smith, the hanyou grit out "Mind you do."

"Now, now Lord Iya, you should trust me. After all, I'm but a humble sword smith." the sword smith playfully commented.

Rolling his eyes, the hanyou let out a huff before turning his attention to the wolf lord. "Kouga, we should get going. We have a day of travel left until we reach Neliel's village, correct?"

"Yeah, we're still a day away. We'll probably reach it early tomorrow morning." Kouga confirmed.

"Then let's get going."

Clapping his hands together, the sword smith piped up and said "Agreed, we should get moving."

With that said, the three instantly took off running towards their destination. Leading the way, the sword smith was followed by the Lord of the North and the dog hanyou, each one's mind focused on the task ahead.

000

000

Standing near a wooded area with a clearing in the distance, the three travelers were each silently checking the surrounding area for any signs of someone following.

Receiving satisfied nods from both Kouga and Iya, Kisuke raised his right hand and filled it full of a light blue demonic aura. The aura gently swirled around his hand as he reached out, seemingly attempting to find something. A moment passed before his hand came into contact with what looked like an invisible wall. The slight contact from his aura covered hand caused the wall shimmer for a moment until a doorway big enough for each of the three to enter formed.

Motioning the stunned pair ahead, the sword smith waited for them to pass through the door and then made his way in also. Releasing his hand from the wall, the doorway vanished instantly, leaving behind no trace of the three.

Glancing around the area, the dog hanyou couldn't help but let out a gasp of surprise. Hidden behind the invisible barrier they had just entered through was a large area, consisting of a set of fields that were growing full of rice, a small village, and a large set of training ground, as well as a large wooded area that formed a perimeter around the entire area.

"This is Lady Neliel's village?" Iya asked in surprise.

Chuckling at the hanyou's reaction, Kouga remarked "Yeah, this is it."

Surprise turned to concern after a moment, prompting the hanyou to ask a question. "Why hide all of this behind an invisible barrier?"

"Let me answer your question with one of my own." Kisuke interjected. "If you were trained by one of the most powerful demons in the history of Japan, would you allow yourself to live out in the open and be found easily?"

Quickly coming up with an answer, Iya retorted "I see what you mean. Besides, with this village here, it appears she wouldn't wish to endanger those around her."

"Very good observation, Iya." the sword smith chirped. Sobering, he added "Neliel cares very deeply about protecting the villagers living here and would never allow any harm to come to them. She would give her life for each of them, just so they could live on."

Adjusting his hat a bit so that it shadowed his eyes completely, he murmured "She has told me that these villagers are her living legacy."

Understanding the words of the sword smith, the dog hanyou turned his vision back towards the distant village. Sniffing the air, he found it had a pleasant scent to it. Picking up two familiar scents, he inhaled the air once more and identified the scents instantly in the back of his mind.

"Kisuke, Lord Kouga, do you two think Lady Neliel would mind me roaming the village?"

Flashing a confused look at the hanyou, the wolf lord began to speak, only to be cut off by the hanyou explaining himself. "There is no need for the three of us to pressure her into a decision. I think the meeting would be less confrontational if the two of you, whom she trusts, were to meet rather than drag me in. I can request an audience with her once the two of you are done."

"Iya, Sesshomaru would have my …"

"That's fine by me, Lord Iya." Kisuke cut in, effectively shutting the wolf demon down. "I have no doubt Neliel wouldn't mind you roaming about the village. Just don't cause trouble."

Sparing a glance at the sword smith to find he had a cheshire cat grin on his face, the hanyou cast a small smile back, saying "No worries, I won't cause trouble. Thank you for understanding, Kisuke, Kouga."

With that said, the hanyou started walking towards the village, leaving the pair of demons behind to watch him leave.

"What is he doing? Ugh, this was a joint venture of the North and West, not just North." Kouga grumbled.

Patting the back of the wolf demon, Kisuke remarked "He found two certain people here in the village I'm certain and wishes to get reacquainted with them."

"Reacquainting can wait for later. We have serious business to discuss with Neliel." the wolf lord ground out.

"Let him go for now. I'm sure Neliel would prefer to meet with him one on one."

Letting out a heavy sigh, the wolf lord conceded the point and the pair moved towards the village themselves.

000

000

"_It's been so long since I've tracked his scent. At least I still remember it._"

Once more taking a sniff of the air, Iya found his nostrils filling with the different scents of the village. The two he had managed to catch earlier were still wafting in the air, though it did take him time to sift through all of the scents he had pulled in.

Glancing at some of the villagers that were tending to chores, he found that nearly all were not full demons. Many were hanyou, some three-quarters demon, some quarter demon, and many others mixed in between. The sight of a few humans even caught him a bit off guard.

"_A village full of people with human blood in their veins protected by a demoness, whom was trained by one of the most powerful demons in Japan. It's hard to believe that such a thing exists in this day and time. Perhaps it's a sign that demons and humans can coexist and even form bonds with one another._"

Picking up the sounds of swords clashing nearby, the hanyou continued onwards. Finding many eyes were upon him, he paid little heed and pressed on. Soon enough, he found himself at a set of training grounds with two combatants on it. Both were wielding their respective swords. The first combatant was easily seen as male with short spiky orange hair, while his opponent was visibly female with long orange and brown hair.

Watching for a few moments, the hanyou decided to move closer. Approaching as quietly as possible, he grinned inwardly when he realized the pair had yet to notice him.

"_Probably due that I'm masking my scent and hiding my aura._"

Without warning, Iya suddenly found the two combatants had vanished and were now standing behind him with the tips of their swords a few inches from his back. None of the three said a word for nearly a minute.

Smirking, the orange spike haired combatant smugly said "Been quite a while, Iya Taisho."

"Yeah, it has, Ichigo Kurosaki. Sharp as ever, I see."

Giggling lightly, the orange and brown haired female asked "Thought you could sneak up on us?"

"Perhaps something like that, Orihime Inoue." a voice from behind them declared.

Turning, the shocked pair found the dog hanyou standing with his blade unsheathed and transformed into it's halberd state. Returning their vision ahead, the pair found the figure that was before them had collapsed onto the ground in a pool of ice and water.

Cheekily, Ichigo countered with "Looks like you've learned a few new tricks since I last saw you."

Sheathing his sword and smiling back at his friends, Iya curtly said "Indeed. You both look stronger too. It's good to see you both."

Sheathing her own sword, Orihime moved forward and embraced the dog hanyou for a moment before pulling away. "It's good to see you, Iya."

"You too, Mage Orihime."

Throwing a deadpan look at the hanyou, the demoness moodily retorted "Don't start."

"Couldn't help but tease you once." Iya smartly countered. Sobering a bit, he added "How long has it been since we last saw each other? Nearly nine years?"

"Less than four." the bobcat mage stated.

Tapping his chin with his finger for a moment, the quarter demon answered "I think about nine for you and me, Iya."

Flashing a smile at the quarter bobcat and bobcat demoness, the hanyou warmly said "Why don't we catch up for a while."

000

000

After nearly an hour of talking and sharing with one another what had occurred within their lives over the last nine years, the group of three sat in silence, with the two bobcats sitting close to one another and the dog hanyou off a little ways from them. Orihime seemed to be lost in her thoughts while a scowl was deeply etched into the face of Ichigo.

"Why didn't you come get me when this damn war started!" Ichigo demanded in a fierce tone.

Unperturbed by his partner's moody tone, Iya evenly answered "I had no idea where you were. The last I had heard from you was nine years ago and you had said you were headed out to find Kisuke Urahara. It was my understanding then that you were going to him to get help with your inner hollow and that once you had it back under control, you would return. I never imagined you'd end up missing for nine years."

"Besides, I couldn't exactly leave the battlefront and go traipsing around to find you. The West was being invaded. Like my brothers, I was on the frontlines helping defend against the invasion forces of the Eastern and Southern Lands."

Reaching over and taking hold of the quarter bobcat's rough hand and placing it within her own smooth one, Orihime cast a small smile at him, saying "It couldn't be helped Ichigo."

"I guess." the quarter bobcat darkly muttered. "I just wish I could have been there to help."

"You had important things to do here as well." Iya remarked. "If you had come, you may not have been able to control your hollow like you do now and it might have cost you in battle. It's not as if the idea of searching you out hadn't occurred to me. I just couldn't do it with what little time there was."

Standing up and offering his hand to the demoness by his side, the quarter demon hauled her to her feet. Deciding to stand himself, the dog hanyou faced the pair of bobcats and couldn't help but feel a bit of nostalgia from being around the pair.

Waking from the feeling and turning his back to the pair, Iya softly said over his shoulder "I need to get back. I'm sure Neliel, Kouga, and Kisuke are nearly done talking."

"You're not getting off that easy." Ichigo declared as he placed a hand onto the hanyou's shoulder, effectively stopping him from leaving. Spinning his former partner around to face both himself and the demoness, he smirked, saying "I'm going with you when you return to the West."

A touch shocked at the declaration of the quarter demon, Iya shook his head a bit. "Ichigo, you should stay here. Let the Western and Northern Lands handle this problem."

"No, I'm going. I may not have known the whole story of the war, but the least I can do now is offer my services to you guys. The war might be nearly over, but I'm sure you could use all the troops available." Ichigo pointed out.

"I am going as well." Orihime chimed in. "I know both the Western and Northern Lands could use another healer for on the battlefield. Besides that, I can fight too. I haven't spent the last nine years doing nothing. Since arriving here about four years ago, I've learned a set of spells called Kidō. I've also improved upon my sword skills also, making me more rounded fighter than before."

Letting out a soft chuckle and earning him a set of raised eyebrows from both bobcats, the hanyou rubbed the back of his head, saying "It's just amusing that both Orihime and Lilly decided to take up practicing Kidō. And it seems you've both picked it up about the same time too, seeing how Lilly started working on it nearly four years ago."

Seemingly growing a bit more excited from the words of the dog hanyou, she anxiously asked "How far has she gotten in her training?"

Rubbing the back of his head with a frown on his face, the dog hanyou answered slowly "I think she has learned to do spells without incantation through level sixty in both Bakudō and Hadō, but beyond there she has to use her incantations. From what I remember, she hit a road block around the level sixty spells and I'm uncertain how far she's gotten since I returned to the frontlines about six months ago."

"The level sixty spells are the most difficult to learn. I'm still struggling with them from time to time, but for the most part I can do all of them now without incantation."

Looking the pair over, the hanyou softly questioned "Are you two sure you want to go help in this war? You don't have …"

"Iya, just shut up and accept our help for once. I swear, you've always been such a pain in the ass when it comes to accepting help. Just accept it for once." Ichigo irritably stated.

Lightly chuckling at the reaction of his friend, the hanyou smirked, saying "I guess I have no real choice in the matter. Alright, when I leave, you two are going back with me to the Western Stronghold."

"Good." was the one word response from the scowling quarter demon.

Shaking his head slightly as he still chuckled at the pair near him, the hanyou couldn't help but find that he felt better somewhat about the future of the war. Turning back towards the village, he called out "Then let's go see how the others are doing."

000

000

Walking together and telling one another stories about the last nine years, the two bobcats and dog hanyou were so busy conversing that they did not notice the Lord of the Northern Lands stalking away from the hut of the leader of the village.

Stomping up to the three with anger visible in his face, Kouga all but yelled "Where the hell of have you been!"

Broken out of his discussion between himself and his friends, Iya rubbed the back of his head for a moment before saying "I'm sorry about that, Lord Kouga."

Glaring at the hanyou, the wolf demon suddenly realized the two bobcats that were with the hanyou seemed familiar. Looking the pair over, he a spark of realization and a forgotten memory fired within his mind.

"Wait a minute, you two bobcats were the ones that traveled with Iya through the Northern Lands nine years ago to hunt down The Thirteen, aren't you?"

Folding his arms over his chest, Ichigo gruffly retorted "What of it?"

Elbowing the quarter demon roughly enough to force him to appear to be bowing, Orihime bowed herself. "It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance again, Lord Kouga."

Earning himself a glare that dared him not to act civil as well, the quarter demon winced for a moment before muttering "Yeah, a real pleasure."

"Well, it's nice to meet you two again also. You may rise."

Inhaling some air painfully into his chest, Ichigo rose up, but not before throwing a heated look at the sweetly smiling bobcat mage. Finding himself ignored, he threw a look back at the demon lord of the North and remained silent.

"I take it you two are done speaking to Lady Neliel?" Iya spoke up as he struggled to keep his laughter inside his mind.

Receiving a grunt of reply, the hanyou looked expectantly at the wolf lord. Watching him, he noted the wolf demon was clenching and unclenching his hands repeatedly, revealing a great deal of anger and frustration from what the hanyou could detect.

"That pain in the ass didn't want to even speak about possibly allying with either the Northern or Western Lands. Instead, she wished for us to try and bring the Eastern and Southern Lands to peace by negotiations. Of all the idealistic thoughts that woman could have!" Kouga exclaimed with venom filling his voice.

Indifferently, Iya remarked "Perhaps I should speak with her then."

"Whatever." the wolf lord muttered. Wistfully, he grunted out "Good luck with trying to talk any sense into her."

Nodding his head and bowing slightly, the dog hanyou made his way through the village to the hut of the village leader. Stopping just outside of it for a few moments, he sniffed the air, finding the scent of Kisuke still lingering within it, along with the scent of a female demon he had yet to identify. Taking in a deep breath, he moved forward and rapped gently on the doorframe.

"Enter." a feminine voice from inside beckoned.

The dog hanyou instantly entered, pushing the door flap aside and found Kisuke Urahara and the leader of the village sitting on their knees by the fire pit. Looking over the demoness as he approached the pair, he took in the looks of teal haired buxom woman to discover her clothing was modest and did not reveal her form as much as some female demons he had met in the past tended to do. Sitting beside both occupants was a steaming cup of tea and a rice cake each.

"Ah, Lord Iya, allow me to introduce you to the leader of this village and disciple of Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni, Lady Neliel Tu Odelschwanck." Kisuke spoke as he stood up.

Standing at the same time the sword smith spoke, the teal haired demoness studied the hanyou for a moment. On cue, he bowed to her, earning him a raised eyebrow. "You are the representative of the Western Lands?"

Rising, the hanyou promptly answered "Yes, milady. I am Iya Taisho of the Western Lands."

"Don't be so modest, Lord Iya." Kisuke chimed in with a sing song voice. "Neliel, Lord Iya here is brother to the current Lord of the West, Sesshomaru Taisho."

Hazel eyes flashing for a moment, the demoness cautiously asked "You are his brother?"

"To be exact, I'm his half brother." Iya corrected.

Nodding her head mutely, the demoness flicked a glance at the still grinning sword smith. "Kisuke, would you mind leaving Lord Iya and me alone?"

Seemingly pouting, the sword smith let out a heavy sigh before saying "Alright. You're so mean to not include me."

Remaining emotionless, Neliel dryly remarked "Do not be so dramatic Kisuke."

"But I always need to be."

Rolling her eyes, the demoness firmly retorted "Leave us."

Becoming serious, the sword smith nodded his head. Stooping down and picking up his tea and rice cake, he made his way towards the door, but not before stopping in front of the dog hanyou and placing a hand on the hanyou's shoulder. Cracking a genuine smile at him, he proceeded to leave the hut.

"Lord Iya, would you like some tea and a rice cake?"

Acknowledging the demoness's question with a simple nod of his head, Iya moved beside of the fire pit and took a seat where the demoness had once sat. Watching her leave the room and heard the rattling of a few drawers, he said nothing and patiently waited for her to return. She soon returned and set a saucer down before him that had a rice cake on it. Taking a small kettle out from over the fire, she filled a ceramic cup up with warm brown liquid and set it next to the saucer before returning to her seat.

"Thank you." Iya quietly said as he picked up the ceramic cup and blew on it, sending steam shooting away. Sipping from it, he closed his eyes for a moment and enjoyed the taste of the warm liquid that slid down his throat.

Opening his eyes and setting down his cup, the dog hanyou sat in silence for a few moments until the demoness spoke up, asking "Is it to your liking, Lord Iya?"

"It is, thank you, Lady Neliel."

"You do not have to be so formal with me, Lord Iya. I am the protector of this village, but nothing in comparison to a lord or heir to one of the Four Lands."

Warmly smiling at the demoness, the hanyou kindly remarked "You do not have to be formal with me either, Neliel. I often find formality is more of a hindrance in discussions."

Lips quirking into a small smile, she replied "I agree."

Silence enveloped the pair for a few moments until the teal haired demoness softly asked "If it is not to bold, I would like to ask you a few questions."

"My life is an open book." Iya answered nonchalantly. "There are pages I'd rather not talk about, but it is there to discuss."

Nodding her head, Neliel pursed her lips, her eyes revealing she was forming the questions slowly within her mind. "May I ask about your heritage?"

Staring down at the warm steaming liquid in his tea cup for a few long moments, the hanyou took in a deep breath of air before softly asking "You're curious if I am a hanyou, aren't you?"

"No, it's not that. What you are does not matter to me." the demoness quickly admonished. "I just wish to know of your parents is all."

"It doesn't bother me, Neliel. To be truthful, I may have the appearance of a hanyou, but my true heritage is that of a three-quarters demon."

Taking a moment to sip from his cup, Iya calmly said "My father was the former Lord of the Western Lands, Inutaisho. I'm certain he came to visit your master, Lord Yamamoto, many years ago."

Nodding her head, Neliel allowed a small smile to grace her face as she fondly said "Yes, I remember meeting him. Lord Inutaisho and Lord Kouga's father, Keitaro, both met with Master Yamamoto to discuss ways of how to deal with the increase in the human population. Your father seemed rather protective of any beings with human blood within them, saying that they should have the same rights as demons."

"That sounds like my father." the hanyou commented with a weak smile on his face. "My mother's name was Asami. She was a dog hanyou that my father rescued. He had found her dying when she was young and saved her life with his The Sword of Heaven, Tenseiga. After saving her life, he took her under his protection and returned with her to the Western Stronghold. There, she was discovered to have a rather gifted mind."

"As she grew older, my mother became very beautiful and attracted plenty of suitors; none of which she accepted. Instead, she was quite taken with my father, but due to their friendship, she did not act upon her desires. After coming of age, she became one of his highest advisors."

"When the war between the Eastern and Western Lands broke out, my mother joined the fight alongside of my father and my elder brother. In the end, it was her that helped broker a peace deal between the two lands. Each of the two lands received fair treatment, earning her many thanks from the Eastern Lord, Yomi."

"Not long after the peace, an incident broke out that threatened to destroy the peace both sides had fought to accomplish. The Eastern Lord did not desire war again, so he asked for my parents to come to the Eastern Lands to negotiate over the dispute. My parents accepted his offer and left for the meeting immediately."

Letting out a small sigh, the hanyou added "During the trip, my mother's time of the month when she reverted into her human form was coming up. It would happen with only two days left on the trip. However, the day it was to happen was the least of their problems as my father went into heat earlier than he had expected to. My father immediately was forced to stop and told my mother to leave him behind and go on to the meeting. She was fiercely stubborn about leaving him, however, he convinced her to leave."

"My mother proceeded on towards the meeting for a while, but soon turned around and tracked down my father. He was furious that she had returned naturally. My mother had none of it and told him he was needed. She tore into him over the fact it would be silly of her to go on alone without him, that if she had, the Eastern Lord would have been insulted that the Lord of the West did not have the decency to show up. Father of course argued that he had no choice, seeing how he had to ride his heat out over the next three days."

"That is when my mother made him an offer that in his weakened state he couldn't resist. She offered to quell his heat with her own body. Initially, my father refused to even think of doing such a thing, mostly due that he knew even if she was hanyou, he would cause her pain, but with my mother as human, she would suffer far worse."

Sadly smiling, Iya remarked "The one thing my father often told me I reminded him of was my mother's persistent nature. She did not leave after his initial refusal, but instead firmly set her mind to staying. The sun soon went down on them as they argued. Immediately, my mother reverted to her human form and my father's heat intensified at least ten fold. Again she offered herself to him and due to the overwhelming urges brought on by his heat, he caved in and accepted her offer."

"My father told me that my mother was unashamed of what transpired between them. Looking back on it from my standpoint, I'm guessing in a way my mother felt that it was simply enough to experience what she did with my father. She knew he did not love her the way she did him, so she accepted things as they were."

Letting out a soft chuckle before sipping some more of his tea, the hanyou remarked "I was conceived from their coupling on that night. When my father found out, he swore to protect both my mother and I. He vowed that I would be raised as an heir to the Western Lands, that I would have full rights like Sesshomaru."

"Your father accepted you." Neliel interjected. "He accepted you as his son and saw you as a person, not as someone who was a mixed blood. Not many demons would ever do that."

Mutely nodding his head in acknowledgment before taking a sip of his tea, the hanyou quietly replied "He truly saw me as his son. Sesshomaru was always the one to take over the Western Lands after him, which I was happy, but he saw me as an equal to Sesshomaru. That is something I will forever be thankful of from my father."

Confirming his statement with a nod herself, the teal haired demoness remained quiet for nearly a minute before asking "What became of your mother?"

Looking down into the remains of his steaming tea, Iya weakly answered "My mother died bringing me into this world. She went into labor on the night of her weakness. I came into this world via a human mother who gave her all to bring me into it. For what she did, I can never forget her."

"I'm sorry…"

"Don't be." Iya was quick to retort in a tender, yet apologetic tone. "My mother had no regrets according to my father. Before she died, she named me and told my father to make sure I made lots of friends and had a good life. She wanted me to be happy, not sad over what happened to her."

Casting a soft smile at the hanyou, the demoness nodded her head in agreement. "I'm certain any mother would wish that for their child."

"Now then, do you have any more questions?"

"No, I do not." Neliel answered shortly.

Nodding his head in acknowledgement, Iya was quick to say "I'm certain you think I'm here to try and force you to join the Western Lands, but I am not. I am simply here to ask for your aid, but not strong arm you into it."

Looking straight into the hazel eyes of the demoness with his own muddy brown ones, he calmly said "I do not expect an answer from you whether you will ally with us or not, nor do I wish for you to say so. I only come here to reason with you and tell you of the situation."

"The Western Lands, along with the other three lands, perhaps each had a hand in creating this war, though unintentionally. Years of land disputes have no doubt left the Southern and Eastern Lands feeling they deserve more than they have and no doubt prompted them to take action against their neighbors, the Western and Northern Lands."

"I cannot condone nor condemn the actions of the Western Lands in all of my years of being an heir to them. The West has done many things right, but we have also provoked our neighbors at the same time on some matters. War is never good for any of the Four Lands. It only leads to death and destruction, along with vengeance and urges to kill those that harmed the ones you love. Even though I fight to protect others around me, I have no doubt my hands are stained with the blood of another's loved one and that they may seek revenge on me."

"However, I cannot idly sit by and allow the enemy forces of the Western Lands to continue their heinous acts. When we lost a portion of the Western Lands in the early part of the war, the Southern and Eastern Lands occupied those areas. After we began to push back, we discovered what they had done to those areas."

Eyes dropping to the ground, he mumbled "Entire villages of humans were wiped out without a second thought; some women were spared and sold as sex slaves. Those unlucky enough to be female or beautiful enough were murdered in cold blood and dumped into piles for our forces to discover. Numerous female demons have been found to be raped repeatedly. When a demoness was discovered to be pregnant by our enemies, the enemy would cut open the demoness and kill the child growing within her womb. If the demoness lived or died, they did not care. Many demons are now barren thanks to this great travesty."

"Any being with human blood in their veins have not been spared and were led away to either become sex slaves or entertainment in tournaments to the death. Those lucky enough to survive have told us the horror stories."

Meeting the horrified gaze of the demoness, Iya smoothly said "This war is not about protecting the lands of the West and North, but for the survival of anyone with human heritage. The Southern Lord only cares about those with power. To him, anything with human heritage is weak, regardless of how strong that person is."

Letting out a soft sigh, the hanyou pressed on and added "I understand you may be also hesitant to join this war due that your former comrades are both head generals for each of the two enemy lands. Both are powerful in their own rights, however, they have fallen from the path that your master laid out for the three of you. I cannot and will not back down should I be confronted by them in battle."

"Again, I do not demand for your aid, but I appeal to you to help us. Help stop these tragic conditions by joining us in defeating the Southern and Eastern Lands. I understand why you refuse to currently help our two lands. Your master taught you not to become entangled in the affairs of the Four Lands. That is an excellent piece of advice. I truly wish we could have peace once more, but until the Southern and Eastern Lands are stopped, there can be no peace. They do not have any interest in peace. We have tried to negotiate, nevertheless, they want far more than they deserve."

Standing up and humbly bowing, Iya quietly said "I thank you for your time, Lady Neliel. Do think on what we discussed. If you decide to aide us, send word to the West or North. Until then, I wish you well."

Quickly exiting the hut, the hanyou put some distance between himself and the hut he had just left. Picking up the scent of Kouga, he proceeded to trail after it until he found the wolf lord speaking with Kisuke Urahara near the edge of the village.

Looking expectantly at the hanyou, the wolf demon waited impatiently for an update, yet received none. At last, he snapped out "Well!"

"I didn't ask for an answer from her."

Jaw dropping, anger became visible on the wolf demon's face as a vein began pulsing in his forehead. "Sorry, I must have misheard you. I thought I just heard you say you did not ask for an answer from her."

Readying for the onslaught of obscenities that were about to be fired at him, Iya shortly said "I did not ask for an answer from her."

"YOU FUCKING IDIOT! WHAT IN THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING OF SAYING FOR HER NOT TO GIVE YOU AN ANSWER!"

"Could you tone it down several decibels? I think everyone in Japan heard you." the dog hanyou deadpanned.

"Why I ought to…"

"Now, now Lord Kouga, I think what Lord Iya here probably did the best thing. It's best not to pressure Neliel." Kisuke chimed in.

Still heatedly glaring at the hanyou, the wolf demon muttered "Whatever."

Turning away, he added "This was a waste of a trip anyways. I had a feeling she'd reject any kind of offer to join us."

"Lay off her, Kouga." Iya fiercely grit out, earning him a surprised look from both the sword smith and wolf demon. "She does not wish to become involved in this war for her own reasons, so I will not force her into it. This trip was productive regardless."

"How so? We didn't get her to ally with us."

Giving a knowing smirk, the hanyou clucked his tongue and said "That is true, but two of my past friends are returning with us."

"You mean those two bobcats are going back with us?" Kouga questioned skeptically.

Receiving a nod from the hanyou, the wolf demon grunted out "Better than nothing, I suppose."

Hearing fast approaching footsteps, the trio looked to find it was the two bobcats racing towards them with Ichigo carrying two packs, one on each shoulder. Reaching the three, Orihime brightly smiled at them.

"We're ready to go." she declared.

Glancing over at the loaded down quarter demon, Iya asked "Did you let Neliel know?"

"We took care of it." Ichigo quickly answered. "Let's go already."

Scanning the quarter demon's face, the hanyou stated "You didn't tell her yourself."

"Look, we left her a note with Shinji. Don't grumble about how we're leaving. Just be happy we're coming with you." Ichigo heatedly retorted.

Turning his attention to the sword smith who was just simply listening to the conversation, Iya asked "Will she be alright with this?"

Cupping his chin for a moment before grinning like a cheshire cat, Kisuke answered "She'll understand why they're leaving. Neliel won't like it, but she will understand."

Letting out a heavy sigh, the hanyou looked to the Lord of the North, saying "We're ready then."

"Then let's get back. There is a war to be won." Kouga stated as the group moved out.

**Thanks everyone for reading the chapter. Now, if you could do me a kind favor and review to let me know what you think of the chapter, I'd appreciate it. Till next time!**


	9. Chapter 9: Final Preperations

**Hey there everyone! The last few weeks have been hectic, but pretty good overall. Last weekend, my mate and I finally received our new bedrails to replace the broken one. It was a tedious task, but we got it together at long last. However, the new frame has a design flaw... Nothing on the sides to really support the box springs. This wasn't really paid any attention until a cracking sound and the bed sank unexpectedly one night when I was crawling in. The weight was being distributed onto only the rail that crossed the middle, and with so little support, the box springs just broke. Needless to say, we're a touch irritated since we had only fixed the bed two days before... As my mate put it, craftsmanship seems to be a thing of the past: it's now crapsmanship. Luckily for us, the box springs and mattress is covered by a warranty, so the furniture company is going to replace it with one of equal value. To fix the issue of balancing, we're going to buy some 2x4s to put on the sides, that way the box springs has some support on the sides and isn't bearing all it's weight down on the frame. One sad note since my last chapter, a horse of my dad's died. I felt so bad for her. She had fallen over somehow or something and couldn't stand up. We eventually lifted her up using a tractor and tried to set her on her feet just so she could be vertical, but she thrashed around and we eventually laid her back on the ground. She seemed to favor her left back leg. We're guessing it was infection due that she had aborted a colt a few weeks before that and that maybe the aftermath caused an infection. Until the day she died, she ate rather well. Kind of sad really, seeing how she was very young (2 years old). On a brighter note, I've started watching the anime series **_**Shakugan no Shana**_**, which is pretty good so far. And before anyone asks, I'm not planning on writing on this series, lol.**

**Writing wise, I'm moving along with it. It's been slow at times, others I can just pour it out and not take long. Then there are issues with the flash drive I have at times... I had a chapter nearly done and had it saved on my flash drive that I carry to work and home. I keep all my most recently worked on things on it. Unfortunately, it lost a chapter that I had done and I had to rewrite it. So frustrating. No worries though, the story will end, with lots of exciting chapters to come.**

**Thanks to Kattana and Hibikari for your reviews. I really love hearing from both of you and seeing what each of you have to say. Again, thanks for your loyal reviews.**

**Btw, just another warning that the rating of this story may change in the future, pending my decision on a few things, so just to warn everyone. It'll go from T to M. Kind of like how **_**Another**_** should have been done, hehe.**

**So anyways, that's it for me. I hope to see some new people in the reviews next go around. Seriously, I do like hearing feedback everybody. It helps me decide if I'm going in the right direction or if I need to change anything. At any rate, it helps, so please do review or send me a PM if you're shy about it.**

**Take care everyone and enjoy!**

**Chapter 9**

"Well, well, isn't that a sight for sore eyes?" a man's voice declared.

Letting out a sigh, a female voice muttered "Not so much, but it is nice to finally return to the Western Lands capital."

"Momma, is this the place Poppa and you told me about?" a young girl's voice full of curiosity questioned.

In a tender tone, the woman replied "Yes, it is. We have at long last arrived at the Western Stronghold."

Smirking, the man remarked "I bet Iya will be surprised to see us again."

000

000

"Lady Kagome."

Turning around at the calling of her name, Kagome spotted a familiar servant looking timidly at her. The servant was a young neko hanyou with chestnut colored hair that was unbound and reached down to her butt in length, violet eyes that revealed her nervousness, and a touch of blush on her cheeks. Her clothing consisted of a white flowing kimono that bled down into black and had pink ribbons tied into it, keeping the sleeves from draping. A large pink obi held her kimono shut and tied together at her lower back. On her feet was a pair of light brown sandals with socks.

Flashing a smile at the servant, she softly said "Fuyu, how many times have I told you that you don't have to be so timid with me? And for that matter, you shouldn't worry about calling me Lady Kagome. It's just Kagome."

"A thousand apologies, La…" the neko hanyou began, but quickly stopped. "… Kagome."

"That's better."

Giving a weak smile as she looked at the ground with a bit of a flustered look, the neko quickly said "Kagome, I apologize for interrupting your rounds here in the infirmary, but there are visitors here that are asking for Lord Iya or Lady Lilly. Neither are here currently and I informed the trio, however they asked to see you instead. What do you wish for me to do?"

Thoughtfully, Kagome asked "Do you recognize the three?"

"No La… I mean, no, I do not."

Nodding her head, Kagome slowly walked towards the hanyou and said "Bring them to the room where Sesshomaru normally has meetings. I will meet them there in a few minutes."

"As you wish, Kagome." Fuyu humbly responded and bowed before leaving the infirmary.

Sighing at the actions of the servant, the miko shook her head and proceeded to finish up on checking on the last of her patients. Done at last, she moved into a small room off of the infirmary where water was constantly being heated. Pulling her kimono's sleeves up to her shoulders, she plunged her hands into the somewhat warm water and began scrubbing her hands and up to her elbows. Concluding her washing and following up with drying her hands, the miko slid her sleeves back down and glanced into the mirror that was in the small room.

Finding her human form reflecting in the mirror, she stared intently at it for a few moments, her eyes running over her body. She had chosen to wear her traditional red and white miko robes for the day and had her ebony black hair pulled back into a ponytail. Her chocolate orbs scanned her clothing for any blood on it for a few moments longer before letting out a heavy sigh.

"Maybe I should revert back. Whoever is asking for Iya and Lilly may not recognize me as a human."

Making up her mind, she quickly left the infirmary and headed to the room that Inuyasha and her shared. Reaching it swiftly and entering without knocking, she found her mate laying on their bed with only his hakama on.

Puzzled, she watched as he sat up and threw her a smirk that made her feel like she was melting and desire to be held in his arms. Immediately realizing what was on his mind, the miko felt herself internally wishing to give into her desire, but knew better with guests waiting on her.

Crossing the room and kissing her mate gently, she pulled back instantly and whispered "I'm sorry, but we can't right now."

Brow furrowing and a low growl emitting from his throat, Inuyasha ground out "Why not? It's our first chance in a week."

"I know, but there are some guests waiting for me to meet with them. I just came to change out of my miko robes so I could revert to my hanyou form."

Snorting, the hanyou indignantly muttered "Why bother."

Earning himself a heated glare from his mate that told him he was on the edge of crossing a line that would earn him subduing spell, the dog hanyou quickly threw his hands before himself and yelled "I didn't mean it!"

Settling a bit, the miko turned her back to her mate and firmly said "You'd best not try my patience, Inuyasha."

Fearing the wrath of his mate, the dog hanyou quietly nodded his head, only to unexpectedly find his mate climbing up into his lap. In a husky tone, she whispered in his ear "We will get to what we really want later. I promise."

Feeling goose bumps form all over his body from the shear amount of desire that poured from his mate's words, the dog hanyou couldn't help but smirk when he picked up her scent mixed with spice.

Clambering off her mate's lap and crossing the room to her closet, the miko looked over her shoulder innocently and said "You can watch me get ready at the least."

Undoing her obi slowly and opening up her kimono, Kagome instantly picked up the scent of her mate's arousal. Ever so slowly and sensually, she removed her top to reveal she was wearing a purple satin bra. Knowingly smirking at how much she was not only teasing her mate, but herself as well, the miko slowly rolled her pants off of her hips and bent over to push them the remainder of the way down.

Watching his mate undressing nearly drove the dog hanyou insane as he had to watch her bend down to push her pants down to her ankles. The panties she had on was a purple thong and gave him a look at what he could expect to see later that day. Running his eyes over her body, he saw the signs of her previous pregnancies, but to him it only enhanced the effects that her body had on him.

Kagome immediately became aware of how aroused she was and the fact that she could feel the liquid heat pooling in her nether regions. Inwardly sighing at the fact she had not only teased her mate into this position, but herself, she forced herself to focus on her task. Allowing the miko energy that she constantly was releasing around her body to ebb away, she took in a small breath and awaited the changes she knew was coming. With the energy fading gone, her body pulsated a few times before slowly transforming into it's true state. Her ebony hair became a bit shinier, while at the same time her human ears were sucked into her head. On top of her head, two black cone shaped dog ears sprouted and swiveled momentarily. At the same time, her fingernails grew out into claws and her teeth sharpened and elongated into fangs. A puffy black tail soon grew out just at the top of her rear and right through a hole in the fabric of the purple underwear. Last to change was her eyes, which went from chocolate brown to a honey color.

Taking in a deep breath as her transformation ended, the miko hanyou smiled as her senses were heightened. In her human form, her sense of smell was more dull, but above that of any normal human. Flexing her clawed hands momentarily, she took a peek over her shoulder to see her mate staring at her body and drinking in it's image.

Finding herself once more compelled to join her mate on the bed, she pushed the urge aside and quickly entered into the closet and found a kimono that she traditionally wore when she was in her hanyou form. It was a long and dark purple in color, with several yellow colored butterflies embroidered into it, and long flowing sleeves. A lovely lavender obi was tied around it.

Dressing quickly, she could sense her mate still staring at her back, even after the kimono was tied shut and she was completely covered. Ignoring him, she moved before the large dresser that sat in the corner and fixed her hair so that two round pink holders held her bangs.

Turning her attention back to her mate, she flashed him a quick smile and approached him quietly. Seeing his pants were ballooned out due to his arousal, Kagome inwardly felt pride in knowing the power she had over her mate. Not wishing to exploit that power anymore, she kissed him gently.

"When I get back, we will do something about that." she stated as she placed her index finger on the bulge in his pants.

Eyes glazed over with desire and letting out a hiss from the contact of her finger, Inuyasha lowly said "You better go before I rip your clothes off and never let go of you."

Giggling innocently, Kagome hurriedly ran out of the room. Leaning against the outside of the door and taking several deep breaths in an attempt to push all thoughts from her mind, the miko hanyou couldn't help but feel guilty over teasing her mate.

"_He'll get me back later, I know it._"

Picking up her own spiced scent of arousal, Kagome quickly masked her scent, hoping no one would be able to pick up on what she had been thinking about. Taking one last deep breath, she pushed off from the door and began the long trek to the room she had asked for the trio to be brought to. Finding herself lost in thought, she couldn't help but ponder on who was at the stronghold to visit Iya and Lilly, but requested her instead. Coming up with no answers, she shrugged it off and found herself in front of the room she had been looking for.

Letting out a ragged sigh, the miko hanyou pushed open the conference room doors to find three figures sitting within the room that were facing her. Upon seeing two of the three, recognition filled her eyes.

The first of the trio was a dog demon with long jet black hair that reached down to his mid-back in length, pointed ears, curved green demonic markings on each cheek, and piercing brown eyes. The clothing he wore was a set of red mage like robes, but glimmers of a red and white bodysuit could be seen underneath the robes. Resting next to him and leaning against the chair he sat in was a single sword with a black cloth wrapped hilt and sheath.

Sitting in the chair next to him with a young child in her lap was a blonde haired dog demoness, who had her hair pulled back into twin pony tails that trailed down to her mid-back. A single grayish-blue diamond shaped demon marking graced her face, which was on her forehead. Her amber eyes revealed hardness within them, but tenderness hidden as well. The child in her arms was pulled back against her well endowed chest, effectively making it look larger. Resting in an empty chair nearby was a green jacket that she had been wearing with a red circle and a black kanji symbol embroidered into it that stood gamble. Shifting slightly, her gray tank top like top, that was held shut by a blue obi that wrapped around her waist, revealed a great deal of cleavage and a green crystal attached to a necklace that laid between her breasts. Blue pants reached down in length to just above her lower calves in length. On her feet was a pair of high heeled sandals that had a strap that wrapped around above her ankles.

In the blonde haired buxomness' lap sat a small neko child that appeared eight to nine years of age, who appeared to have a slightly shy disposition. She had ebony black hair that was pulled back into two buns on the side of her hair, but the remainder of her hair was pulled back into three tightly braided ponytails from each side of her head, giving her six in all. Her eyes were a shiny black, but had a slit somewhat hidden within them. Pointed ears ran into the buns on the sides of head. She had a petit form and wore a light pink kimono top that was overlapped by a darker pink one that fell to just above her knees in length. A white obi was tied over the two tops and held her white pants up, which ended just at her lower calves. White socks ran up to the ending of her pants and black slipper like shoes were on her feet. Peeking out behind her was a two inch in diameter tail that was covered in black fur and gently swished through the air once or twice every few minutes.

Smiling great big at the trio, Kagome excitedly said "Ryo and Tsunade!"

Both instantly stood up and smiled at the miko hanyou, with the demoness setting the smaller child down onto her feet. Without warning, Kagome suddenly embraced Ryo, then moved over to a surprised and uncomfortable Tsunade.

"It's great to see you both!"

"Were you always so bubbly and clingy?" Tsunade moodily questioned as the hanyou hugged her gently.

Pulling back and lightly laughing at the demoness, the miko hanyou remarked "I'm sorry, I'm just so happy to see you both."

Looking down at the young girl, the hanyou quickly sank down to her haunches and smiled at her, asking "Who are you little girl?"

Suddenly moving behind the dog demoness, the child poked her head out from behind her and shyly said "My name is May Chang."

Cocking her head to the side and examining the child's features, clothing, and pondering over her name, Kagome stood back up and quietly asked "Is she Chinese?"

"How did you know?" Ryo asked in surprised.

Giving a smile that said she knew something that the pair did not, the miko hanyou answered wistfully "Just a guess. I noticed her clothing looked foreign, plus her name reminded me of a Chinese friend I once knew long ago."

"Ah. So, where is Iya?" the dog demon asked curiously.

Deciding to take a seat, Kagome remarked "He's currently away on a long term mission. Lilly is also away at the moment on a scouting mission. However, both should be returning in the next few days according to Inuyasha."

Sitting as well, both dog demons and the child got comfortable after a moment. Glancing at the child in the dog demoness's lap, the miko hanyou couldn't help but feel her curiosity peeked by the small child.

Noting this, Tsunade smoothly said "I can tell you're curious about May, so I guess we could tell you how she came to be with us."

"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to cause any offense." Kagome apologetically replied. "I was merely curious about her."

"Don't worry about it, Kagome." Ryo intercepted before the dog demoness could speak. "Many wonder why a neko child is traveling with a pair of dog demons."

Taking in a deep breath, he softly added "As you know, at the end of the battle with The Thirteen nine years ago, Tsunade and myself left the group. After wandering about Japan for nearly a year, we decided to cross over to the continent of Asia to do research on other types of magic. It felt like a very long trip to say the least, but we arrived over there after a short voyage."

"We arrived at Shanghai without much issue and immediately immersed ourselves in studying the various forms of yōkai magic that the Chinese had. Our studies kept us in Shanghai for nearly three years before we decided to move on and search out other areas. We travelled throughout China, as well as India, Korea, Vietnam, and went as far north as what someone called Russia."

Shivering at the mention of the name, Tsunade muttered "I will never return to that frigid place."

Chuckling lightly at the dog demoness, Ryo smugly remarked "At least one good thing came of doing research in Russia."

Softly smiling, the demoness retorted "I suppose so."

"What was the one good thing?" Kagome asked in confusion.

Pulling down her collar a bit from her tank top, the demoness revealed a set of twin dots on the junction of her neck and shoulders. Realization hit the miko hanyou instantly as she smiled great big.

"Congratulations you two!"

"Thank you." Ryo commented with a smile. "To say the least, going to Russia was worth the time and trouble."

Pausing for a moment, he slowly continued on, saying "We left Russia after being trapped there for the entire winter. At that point, we returned to China and began researching on a special type of magic called Alkahestry."

Stopping instantly, the dog demon rubbed the back of his head, saying "You probably don't know anything about the magic I'm talking about."

"Is it similar to what Iya told us Ed and Alphonse of The Thirteen could do? They had something called Alchemy, I think." Kagome cautiously asked.

Surprised at the response from the miko hanyou, Ryo answered "Yes, it is similar, but not quite the same. You see, Alchemy draws it's power from the shifting of the tectonic plates of Earth, but is difficult to control. However, Alkahestry is different from that. It instead draws it's power from the tops of the mountains to the very depths of the land and nourishes everything with it's energy. Instead of primarily being used in combat situations, Alkahestry is instead being used for healing. Alkahestry can be used in combat, but it is more for defense than offense. Really, it's a better form of Alchemy if you ask me."

"It sounds pretty amazing." the miko hanyou commented.

"Yes, it did." Tsunade chimed in as she wrapped her arms around the small child that was still in her lap. Smiling, she softly said "That's about the same time we found May here. When we first saw her, she was begging for food and offering to do anything in return for anyone using her Alkakhestry. Her parents had been the leaders of a village for many years until a group of thugs rode through and killed them. Afterwards, the bandits took up refuge in the village and made it their base of operations. May was exiled from the village by the leader of the gang. We found her outside a small village with hardly any clothing and thin as a rail. Neither of us could stand seeing a child in that condition and took care of her for several weeks until she was healthy again."

"Once she was well again, Tsunade and I asked what had happened. Upon finding out, we asked her to show us the way to the village. There, we took care of the bandits that had plagued the people of the village." Ryo filled in.

Nodding her head, the blonde buxomness added "While there, we found out that May's parents had known Alkahestry. We were naturally disappointed, but were more shocked to find out that May herself also knew Alkahestry and was already quite skilled at it. She told us that even though her village was free, she had no reason to remain due that all of her family line but herself was dead. After discussing it among ourselves, Ryo and I decided to adopt May and take her with us, which was one of the happiest decisions we ever made."

"Since then, we roamed China and studied more of the different yōkai magic of the land. We never could quite figure out Alkahestry, but that is more of a work in progress thanks to May's tutelage. Finally, after studying and wandering Asia for nine years, we decided to return home due that both Tsunade and I were a little homesick." Ryo finished. "And the rest is simply us returning to the Western Stronghold."

"I see. That is quite a story." Kagome remarked.

"So tell us, what is happening within the Western Lands? I noticed there is a lot of heightened security throughout it." Ryo remarked. "Did something happen?"

Letting out a long and audible sigh, the miko hanyou slowly said "You could say that. It's a long story."

"Well, we have the time until Iya and Lilly get back." the dog demon casually said.

Sighing once more, the hanyou replied "It all began back …"

000

000

Sitting silently, the group of demons and lone hanyou each allowed the story that the miko hanyou had just told them settle. Speaking up and surprising the two dog demons, the small neko child said "Momma, Poppa, we have to help them."

"May…" Tsunade whispered with a bit of shock in her voice. Amber eyes softening, she remarked "May is right, Ryo. We must help the Western Lands in their time of need."

Not hesitating, Ryo responded "I agree whole heartedly. We will do whatever is asked of us to help the Western and Northern Lands. Japan needs peace in order to learn from it's mistakes in the past."

"I'm certain Lord Sesshomaru will be pleased to hear that you two will be helping out." Kagome warmly commented.

"I want to help too." May piped up.

Looking at the small neko curiously, the miko hanyou was about to comment on the request but was cut off the dog demoness. "I am certain that you are thinking May is too young to enter into this war, Kagome, but let me assure you, she is an accomplished healer and fighter. Her parents taught her everything she needed to know about Alkahestry, as well, they taught her martial arts to help allow her protect herself. Since travelling with us, we have taught her further on defending herself, so May here is quite capable of protecting not only herself, but others also."

Eyeing the young child for a few moments, the miko hanyou softly said "It's amazing at what you've accomplished at such a young age, May."

"Thank you." May kindly said with a smile forming on her face.

Returning the smile, Kagome remarked "I bet you would enjoy seeing children around your own age. I have a daughter named Izayoi who would love to meet you. She's always looking for new friends to play with here since she's been bored. I think the two of you would get along."

Standing and smoothing the wrinkles out of her kimono, the miko hanyou said "We should go let Lord Sesshomaru know of your return. I'm certain he'll be happy to have your three's aid."

"I'm sure he'll be delighted." Ryo sarcastically commented, earning him a playful swat from his mate.

Standing up, the three demons followed after the miko hanyou, who said over her shoulder "We need to have a party to congratulate you two on your mating."

"Don't make such a big deal over it." Tsunade shyly retorted. "Demons mate all the time."

"But you two are our friends. It's special when our friends become mates. That's why we need to celebrate it."

"Let her do it, Tsunade. I'm certain you would enjoy a good night of drinking, maybe some gambling." Ryo wistfully commented.

Rolling her eyes, the dog demoness muttered "That's low to bribe me."

"It always works though." the dog demon remarked with a smirk.

000

000

Ears swiveling back and forth from all the conversations going on within the conference room, Iya stood up and declared "Gentlemen and ladies, if you will please quiet, we shall begin."

Silence quickly spread about the room, earning the hanyou some glares from the generals, but mostly respectable looks of waiting. Running his eyes over all the occupants of within the room, he spotted many friends, allies, comrades, and family that he had come to know and trust over the years. Sighing, he couldn't help but feel a bit anxious filling his mind.

"_Ever since I returned with Ichigo and Orihime a few days ago, I've had to lock myself away for the most part just to prepare this meeting. It all comes down to this, so I need to make it count._"

Spotting his mate, who was staring at him with emerald eyes that showed utter most attention within them, he felt his confidence rise a bit. Moving in front of the conference table, the dog hanyou calmly said "Lords, generals, and comrades of both the Western and Northern Lands, the time has come to prepare our final preparations for our assault on our enemies, the South and East. This meeting is to discuss the deployment of the commanders for our forces."

Walking over to a large board that had been moved into the room with a map of Japan on it, he continued on, saying "As of right now, our fleets are nearly ready to sail. Charts have been drawn up thanks to the diligent work of several demons that can fly and a course has been plotted to deliver us safely into our enemies' territory. As well, our forces have begun to shift and thus giving us a chance to bring the needed troops to their destinations for our final assault. In one month, we shall proceed to move to the shipyards and launch our troop carriers within a day or two of that. We will land within a week and move our troops into position over the week before making our attack."

"Now then, on to the matter at hand, which is to send our commanders where seen fit. First of all, generals, we will be taking all but two of you on this mission. Two must remain behind."

Immediately, a few generals began to defiantly respond, only to be silenced by an angered glare from both demon lords. Finding the generals had settled, the hanyou added "While the attacks on the Southern and Eastern capitals are being launched, we will require the current battlefront to pressure their forces so that they do not withdraw and try to return to the capitals."

"Divide and conquer then?" General Nakamura questioned, if not stated.

Nodding his head, the hanyou remarked "Correct General Nakamura. We must press the offensive against the current battlefronts, as well as the new one that we will be creating. This will force our enemies to make a decision, one that will not be easy."

"Should the capitals of both the South and East fall, the remaining army will be facing a two sided front that they cannot hope to win against. Even though our force invading the capitals is smaller than the bulk of their forces, we will have the advantage due to the structures we will capture. Not only that, but we will have eliminated those that issue the orders."

Taking a deep breath, Iya added "The commanders of the forces will now be distributed, so pay close attention. Currently, our two legions will be split into groups of one hundred. That means there is a total of twenty divisions, but only ten going to the East and the other ten to the South. Overall command is still that of Lord Sesshomaru and Lord Kouga. Individual command of each group will be given to a specific person, who in turn will find a suitable lieutenant."

"The first legion's commanders are as follows: Ichigo Kurosaki, Ryo of the Wildfire, Lord Sesshomaru, Orihime Inoue, Shippou Taisho. The remaining four slots will be given to Generals Takahashi, Kimura, Yoshida, and Hayashi. General Yamada will remain here to command the forces pressing against the current battlefronts."

Not receiving any complaints thus far, the hanyou continued on and added "The second legion's commanders are Lord Kouga, Lady Yoshe, Lady Lilly, Lord Inuyasha, Lady Kagome, and Tsunade Senju. The remaining generals of the North shall fill the final four spots. General Sasaki has been asked to lead the Northern forces that will aid in pressing the attack on the battlefront."

"May I ask a question?" Kouga spoke up, earning everyone's attention.

Receiving a nod of conformation from the dog hanyou, the wolf lord commented "The team set to command the forces of the North, do not take it the wrong way, seems weaker than the group going with the Western forces."

"Hey!" Inuyasha heatedly declared and rose out of his chair. Before he could say anything, he received a deathly glare from both brothers, along with his mate placing a commanding hand on to his arm. Settling, he folded his arms across his chest and let out a light grunt.

Forming his response slowly within his mind, Iya calmly said "Lord Kouga, I have determined the forces adequately. Currently, each side has members specific to the needs of each force. For example, both sides have been given two highly skilled healers. Kagome and Tsunade each are strong healers and can command as well. At the same time, the other force will have a powerful healer in the form of Orihime, but we will also have another strong healer: the adopted daughter of Ryo and Tsunade, May Chang."

"As well, our forces going into battle in the East will receive aid from my informants. I have already relayed orders to them to be at the battlefield the day of the attack. Their skills are more than enough to help subdue the Eastern forces guarding the capital."

Watching the wolf demon contemplating his words, the hanyou inwardly smiled when he received a confirming nod. "Individual orders for the commanders will be given by both Lord Sesshomaru and Kouga. We have the task at hand in capturing or killing the head generals and Lords of both the East and South. None of the above will likely surrender their power willingly, thus we will send certain commanders to deal with them. As well, each of the Lords has a bodyguard, so someone will need to be sent to deal with them."

Running his eyes over each of the occupants within the room for just a mere moment before speaking again, Iya added "The last of the troops will arrive at the end of month's time. Upon their arrival, all commanders will journey to their designated spots. Until then, I advise all commanders to prepare themselves for the upcoming battle."

"Any questions?"

Receiving none, the hanyou firmly said "Dismissed."

000

000

Walking silently hand in hand through one of the gardens of the stronghold, Iya and Lilly looked throughout the gardens at the numerous beautiful flowers growing. Several of the cherry trees within the garden had pink blossoms, giving signs that the spring was a fair one thus far.

Neither hanyou said a word to the other, each just seemingly enjoying the time they had with one another at the moment. However, the moment was broken by the sound of someone jogging up behind them. Knowing who it was already, Iya attempted to ignore the red clothed figure that was fast approaching, but knew most likely his younger brother would not leave.

"Iya!"

Coming to a stop with his mate, the black haired hanyou turned to face the owner of the voice that had called out to him. Eyeing his younger brother for a few moments, the elder dog hanyou softly asked "What is it, Inuyasha?"

"Our asshole brother asked me to find you and bring you to a meeting. It'll probably last a while." Inuyasha informed.

Letting out a light sigh, the elder hanyou turned to his mate for a moment, saying "I suppose I should go then."

Nodding her head meekly, Lilly softly replied "Yes, you should. Don't worry, I'll see you later."

Pecking her on the lips gently before pulling away and moving closer to his brother, Iya calmly said "Let's go."

Led away from the gardens, the elder hanyou silently followed after his younger brother. The pair soon left the grounds of the stronghold altogether and picked up speed. Soon enough, they had reached the forest that surrounded the area.

"Where is this meeting?"

Receiving an answer of silence alone from his younger half brother, the elder hanyou grew a bit annoyed, however decided to continue following. The two soon reached a large clearing with the two demon lords waiting within it.

Meeting up with the pair of lords, Iya glanced at his brother for a moment before his eyes flicked over to the Lord of the North. Cautiously, he asked "What is this meeting about?"

Before either could speak up, the sound of a mooing cow cut through the air and forced the group of four to look skywards. Descending on a gray cloud towards the field was a brown three eyed cow with a set of twin horns sticking out from it's forehead. The cow's four legs were remaining completely motionless, giving it the appearance of riding on the cloud.

On the cow's back sitting cross-legged was an elderly demon that had many wrinkles on his face, a gray ponytail that contained most of his hair, a gray mustache and goatee, bulged out eyes with black coal irises, pointed ears, and a frail looking body. His ragged and tattered green top and pants fluttered gently in the wind. Leaning up against his right shoulder was a sledge hammer that had a handle that was over a foot taller than the old demon himself.

Touching down onto the ground, the elder demon hopped off and said "Ah, I see you managed to get everyone out here on time, Sesshomaru."

"We were waiting for you, Totosai." the stoic demon lord remarked.

Ignoring his older brother, Iya walked up to the elder demon and smiled, saying "Master Totosai, it's good to see you again."

"Ah, Iya, it's good to see you also. I trust you haven't done anything reckless with your Ketsaiga since the last time I saw you."

"I've taken good care of it, Master Totosai." the black haired hanyou responded evenly.

Nodding his head, the elder demon turned his attention to the other hanyou, saying "Inuyasha, I was wondering, if you had some free time, could you come do some more 'training' with me?"

"Hell no old man!" Inuyasha fired back. "The last time I went there to train, you made me just draw you a bath instead!"

In a deadpan tone, Sesshomaru stated "You could probably use some more of that training judging by your patience level."

Eyes about to pop out of his head and mouth dropping, Iya softly asked "Did you seriously just make a joke at Inuyasha's expense?"

"Hn."

"Why you..." the silver haired hanyou grit out as his hand went for the hilt of his sword, only to find the other hanyou's hand over top of his hand to stop him.

"It was a joke."

"That asshole never makes jokes." Inuyasha ground out.

Calling out from nowhere, a voice spoke up and warily asked "Maybe today is special?"

Quickly tracking the source of the voice back to it's owner, Iya soon felt something prick his neck and felt the overwhelming urge to swat it. Deciding not to do so, he smoothly said "I see you're here too, Master Myoga."

Pulling his needle like nose from the hanyou's neck, a small flea with tuffs of gray hair above his ears and a gray mustache with beady black eyes weakly grinned. He wore a dull gold colored top with twin black marks embroidered into it and a pair of gray pants .

"Ah Master Iya, your blood is so tasty. It's hard to resist sampling. I do apologize, but I couldn't help myself." Myoga apologetically said with a half smile.

Watching the flea bounce over onto his younger brother's shoulder, Iya pondered on the appearance of the two newcomers for a moment before asking "What's going on here, Sesshomaru?"

"We will get to that in a moment." Totosai piped up as he moved closer to the three brothers. "I do have a request of you three. Inuyasha and Iya, will you both please give me the sheaths to Ketsaiga and Tetsusaiga. Sesshomaru, I will need Tenseiga, but also the sheath of Bakusaiga."

Brow furrowing with confusion written on his face, the elder hanyou quietly asked "Why do you need our sheaths?"

"As I said, I will explain. Now please, your sheath."

Slowly, one by one, the three drew their blades from their sheaths, with all three digging their blades into the ground. Each soon drew their sheaths out and handed them to the elder demon, along with the demon lord's sword.

Taking the three sheaths and lone sword, Totosai turned to Kouga and said "Lord Kouga, would you please take these three sheaths and dig them into the ground so that they form an equilateral triangle that has a length of one hundred yards apart. I would do so, but I'm not nearly as young as I once was."

Receiving the three sheaths wordlessly, the wolf demon quickly raced across the open area and dug each sheath into the ground. Finishing up his work in only a minute, Kouga returned and took up his position that he had before.

Nodding his head at the work finished by the wolf demon, the elder demon called out "Inuyasha, come with over here with Lord Kouga."

Mumbling under his breath about being close to the flea bag wolf, the hanyou obeyed the order and left the two remaining brothers alone.

Digging the sheath of Tenseiga into the ground in front of himself and forming a diamond like shape with the three sheaths and lone sword, Totosai brought his hammer up and struck the pommel of the sword with it. A high pitch ringing filled the air, forcing most of the group to grimace from the sound.

Without warning, a beam of light blue energy shot out from each of the three sheaths and the lone sword high into the air, about two stories to be exact. Coming together, the beam suddenly filled in the area with light blue demonic energy, effectively cutting the black haired hanyou and his elder brother off from the other four.

"Why did you seal Sesshomaru and me in this barrier?" Iya asked as the ringing had at last become bearable.

"This Sesshomaru asked him to."

Throwing a surprised look at his elder brother, the hanyou cautiously asked "And why is that?"

Impassively, the demon lord smoothly said "This Sesshomaru has one last test for you before we depart for the Southern Lands. You must prove you are capable of defeating the Lord of the South. To do so, you must combat this Sesshomaru and prove your skills. The barrier is to keep all prying eyes away from us."

"This barrier is special." Totosai piped up. "Brought together, the four sheaths create a barrier that can hide demonic energy, as well as dampen sound over great distances."

"I see, you wish to test me in here where no one but Inuyasha, Kouga, Totosai, and Myoga can see us."

"Hn." was the lone answer from the stoic lord while he drew his blade out of the ground. "This Sesshomaru shall not use any of Bakusaiga's abilities in this fight."

Drawing his own sword out of the ground, the dog hanyou smirked and replied "Then I won't use any of Ketsaiga's abilities either. My feelings tell me I must make you yield to prove myself."

"Hn."

Transforming his sword into it's fang like shape, Iya half smiled and said "Just like old times when we spared, but this time I won't be the one to lose."

Both fighters took up a ready stance while the four outside the barrier made themselves comfortable and ready to watch the upcoming battle.

Inching a foot forward, Iya stared into Sesshomaru's amber eyes momentarily, finding no hesitation within them. Feeling a slight bit of hesitation within his own muddy brown ones, he hardened his resolve and charged forward with Ketsaiga drawn out to his right side with a single hand holding it.

At the same time the hanyou had charged forward, the dog demon had done the same. Meeting one another in the middle of the battlefield, the brothers' blades slammed into one another. A blast of demonic energy roared from the contact between the two swords, causing the wind itself to howl fiercely from the meeting of the swords.

Drawing his sword back quickly and going on the attack, the hanyou slashed out masterfully at his brother with every intention of striking him down. Finding his blade parried with each strike, he continued to press the attack, leaving no openings for a counter. Sparks flared from the two blades along with the sound of ringing steel each time the pair of swords met.

Suddenly vanishing into thin air, the dog demon reappeared behind the hanyou and slashed out to lop off his head. Instead, his sword was met by the hanyou's halberd that was braced by the hanyou's left hand.

Vanishing himself, Iya rematerialized several feet away. Flashing forward he struck out at his brother with his full strength, only to have his blade parried again. The two blades grinded against one another, neither willing to give up an inch. Shifting his blade slightly so that it was beginning to slide easily, he slid the blade over his brother's all the way up to the guard. Just as he was about to pass the guard, the dog demon pushed off and retreated a short distance away.

"This Sesshomaru sees that you have kept up with your skills with a blade. You have grown, but there is still room for improvement."

Smirking at his brother's comments, the hanyou remarked "When I was younger I might have flown off the handle from a comment like that, but after hearing it from you all these years, I find it unentertaining."

Launching forward and smashing his blade up against his brother's, Iya felt a small trickle of sweat running down the side of his face as he stared into his brother's emotionless amber eyes with his own muddy brown ones. Finding nothing but what looked like coldness within his brother's eyes, the hanyou started pushing harder as his feet dug deeper into the ground. With tremendous force, he sent his brother skidding backwards from the brute strength he had summoned.

Surprised at his younger brother's brief heightening of strength, the dog demon flashed away and reappeared in front of the hanyou. Instead of launching his attack, he was met by a swift set of slashes that kept him from taking the offensive like he had planned to. Suddenly vanishing, he appeared behind his brother and started a series of languished, but powerful stabs. Each one was lazily blocked by the broad side of the hanyou's sword or forced to scrape along the side of the hanyou's blade.

Finding himself on the defensive, Iya vanished into thin air. Drawing back his blade while he was high in the air, he came slamming down with full force at his brother, only to have his sword blocked. A shower of sparks flared out from the sheer might of the two blades meeting. Unable to break through the defenses of his opponent, he was forced to retreat backwards with several skips. He quickly found himself on the defensive again as his brother sent a flurry of horizontal slashes aimed for his mid-section. Each attack he managed to parry, but found the angle his body was twisted in which he was having to block difficult to maintain. Eyes widening as he spotted a well timed stab coming for his shoulder, the hanyou barely managed to duck and roll in time to evade it.

Watching his brother stand, the demon lord couldn't help but feel a bit of pride over the way his brother was handling himself in the fight thus far. Flashing away and aiming a stab at his brother's head, the demon lord found his blade pushed away by his brother's halberd. Forced to block an incoming slash meant to behead him, he drew back his blade and sent out a series of high speed stabs.

Managing to dodge each of the thrusts by simply shifting his head or body, Iya felt a small trickle of sweat starting to form on his brow. "_Damn, he's so fast. If it wasn't for the fact that I trained with him for so many years, I would end up on the end of his sword. I was forced to become fast enough to counter or dodge him during our sparing sessions. Father helped me improve my speed all those many years ago, but still, even that wasn't enough to help me. If not for the fact I had to face opponents with comparable speed to his own, I'd probably have been run through by now._"

"_I can see his attacks and can act accordingly by countering or dodging. It's not like he's a different person after all these years. He has learned from his mistakes and improved upon his technique, but he still has the same fighting style._"

Without warning, the dog demon gasped lightly when he saw his brother reach out and grab his sword, bringing his thrusts to a stop. The hanyou held the blade carefully so not to cut himself, but to effectively keep the sword from moving. Reigning in his surprise, the demon lord disappeared but soon reappeared a short distance away.

Staring one another down, the two brothers examined one another for any openings and readied themselves for the next exchange. The pair suddenly launched towards one another with their blades raised and ready to go another round.

**Thanks everyone for reading the chapter. Now, if you could do me a kind favor and review to let me know what you think of the chapter, I'd appreciate it. Till next time!**


	10. Chapter 10: Father's Lessons

**Hey there everyone! So, not a whole lot new with me. The weather has been a touch irritating, but then again, it's winter. We've had snow storm after snow storm come through and dump a bit of snow each time, but nothing too serious yet. I think the most we've picked up so far was 5-6 inches at one time. All in all, it's not been too bad, but still troublesome at times. Ah yes, I've taken up watching an anime called Shakugan no Shana recently, which has been terrific so far. I've watched the first season and am about 9 episodes deep into the second season. Plus I've seen all but one episode of the OVA, though it wasn't that impressive, but a little comical I suppose. I'd suggest it to anyone looking for a good anime. Heh, you may even see a character from it in my story if you look close.**

**Writing wise, things are progressing slowly. I'm really psyched about the upcoming chapters that I have to write. Things are going to become exciting, so don't think this thing is over quite yet.**

**Thanks to Kattana for reviewing last chapter, and to my mate who is reading also. Heh, she's at last catching up with this series. Way to go, mate, lol.**

**Btw, to anyone who has thoughts/feedback/comments on this story, I encourage you to post them in a review or PM. It's the only way I can determine how things are going. No feedback leaves me pondering if I'm doing a good job or not, or if no one cares to tell me. I like to know good or bad what everyone is thinking.**

**Also, one minor warning, the next chapter will change this story's rating from T to M. I'm assuming everyone can figure out what may happen, but just to warn you all, I will be changing the rating next chapter.**

**At any rate, I hope everyone likes this chapter. Can't wait to hear from you all. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 10**

Gritting his teeth and lowly growling, Inuyasha watched the battle continue to rage on between his brothers. His hands were tightly gripping the fabric of his pants while his eyes darted back and forth to keep up with the high speed motions of the fight.

"What ails you pup?"

Sparing a glance to his right to find the elder sword smith was sitting next to him, the hanyou muttered "Nothing."

Heavily sighing, Totosai retorted "You always are the most difficult one to talk with. Iya simply tells me what has happened, Sesshomaru gives you the short version, and you, you're like pulling teeth out to get you to talk about anything. Now then, am I going to have to get my vice grips or will you talk?"

Looking at the old demon with a strange look on his face, the hanyou returned his vision back to the fight at hand and whispered "I'll never be able to fight at the level that those two are. "

"Is that what is bugging you?" the older demon asked with a surprised look on his face. "My, my Inuyasha, you certainly surprise me to say the least."

Throwing a glare at the old man, the hanyou ground out "It's the truth. Both Iya and Sesshomaru are by far better swordsmen than me. Hell, I've been pondering while watching this fight if Sesshomaru never took me as a serious threat in all of our previous fights. I mean, I went all out in my battles with him, yet never was able to defeat him."

"That is more due to the fact that your father gave you each swords that would not kill one another, thus throwing you into a stalemate. The same is to be said about Iya's Ketsaiga. It would be unlikely that any of you three could kill one another." Totosai explained.

Pausing for a moment, he added "Besides that, you are gifted enough to compensate for not having years of training."

Frowning at the words of the swords smith, Inuyasha quickly asked "What do you mean by that?"

"Inuyasha, both Iya and Sesshomaru were trained to handle a sword while at very young ages each. Sesshomaru has the most battle experience, thus allowing him to become the strongest of the three of you in skill with a blade. However, Iya is not far from being at the same level as your older brother, seeing how he fought The Thirteen all of those years. He trained himself to become better with a sword, not to mention he found a way to train his body into becoming fast enough to compete with those members of The Thirteen. Speed and power were two things he had to acquire to beat them, thus I don't doubt he trained every opportunity he had."

Pointing a finger at the hanyou, the sword smith said "With you, things were different. You did not have the luxury of being raised and trained in the way of the sword. In fact, I would be willing to bet you never used a sword until you received the Tetsusaiga, correct?"

Receiving a nod after a moment, the elder demon continued on. "That means you have only wielded a sword for fourteen years nearly. Even after receiving it, you learned quickly and managed to prove yourself capable of defending yourself and others with it. To reach the level you have already without any formal training is an accomplishment. Just because those two are able to move at those speeds and use their blades in that way does not mean you are nothing compared to them."

"Besides that, you have accomplished much in your fourteen years of wielding Tetsusaiga, including the fact that you have mastered many high level techniques. And you have inherited the same thing your brothers have from your father: the will to never give up and to protect that which is important to you."

Mulling over the words the older demon had spoken to him, Inuyasha grunted out "I guess you're right."

"Of course I am. Now then, don't worry about their skill levels."

"Those two are in a whole league of their own, dog breath." Kouga spoke up as he approached the pair with his arms folded over his chest. "Even I have trouble keeping up with the speed they have, which pains me to say. If I had my Sacred Jewel Shards still, I might stand a chance, but as things are, I'd be lucky to keep up."

Sneering at the wolf demon, Inuyasha remarked "You're not even in my league, flea bag, let alone Iya or Sesshomaru's."

Gritting his teeth and lowly growling, the wolf demon heatedly fired back "What was that!"

"Gee, don't tell me you have bad hearing too. Shame really." Inuyasha mockingly commented.

About to fly off the handle with another comment, Kouga suddenly smirked, saying "Why don't you put your money where your mouth is."

"What are you getting at?" the hanyou questioned.

Smirking still, the wolf demon remarked "Why not have a little friendly bet on the winner of this match between your brothers. I'm picking Sesshomaru for obvious reasons, seeing how he's a sure win."

"Oh yeah, well I bet Iya will win!"

"How about we bet thirty-five pieces of silver on this wager?"

Noticing the hanyou was a bit nervous at the amount he had declared, Kouga added in a goading tone "If you're scared to do it, then chicken out."

"The hell I'm scared of anything! You have a deal!" Inuyasha declared hastily.

"Cut us in on the action boys." Totosai piped up. "I'm making a wager that those two end in a draw."

"I'll take a piece of that action." Myoga said, adding his opinion in.

Smirking at the pair of elder demons, Kouga remarked "Fine then, we'll cut you two in. I just know for certain Iya will lose to Sesshomaru. No one has beat him in a duel, other than the former Lord of the West."

"Well, he's overdue for someone to knock him off his pedestal!" the hanyou harshly fired back.

Sweat dropping, both the elder demons shook their heads and returned to watching the fierce battle that continued to ensue between the two brothers within the barrier.

000

000

Starting to sweat a bit and feel his breathing beginning to become shallower, Iya suddenly ducked his head to evade a sweeping sword slash from his brother. Spinning around and slashing out at his elder brother, he let an annoyed growl escape his lips when his blade was simply parried.

Leaping away so that he had some room to work with, the hanyou instantly bounded forward and struck out at the shoulder of the dog demon. His blade was effortlessly pushed aside by the blade of his brother, but that didn't keep him from drawing back his sword to once again and attempt to push through his opponent's defenses.

Launching a series of high speed slashes and stabs that caused a spray of sparks from the contact from each blow, the hanyou could only watch as his brother continued to parry each of his thrusts and strikes. Eyes widening when the dog demon vanished, he quickly reached out with his senses to find that his elder brother had moved high into the air and was hovering overhead. Not having an instant to spare, he managed to raise his sword up to block the incoming downwards strike that was launched from his brother. The ground beneath him crumbled from the force of the impact, but he stood his ground.

"_He's so damn strong and fast. At this rate, I'll never be able to get through his defenses. I need a new plan._"

Shoving his brother's blade off of his own and retreating a short distance, the hanyou panted lightly as sweat slid down the sides of his face. Looking at his brother closely, he noted the same could be said for him.

Noting a smirk forming on his brother's face, the dog demon watched as the hanyou leapt high into the air before unexpectedly throwing Ketsaiga straight at him. Using his blade to block the sword, he gasped in shock when suddenly the blade came flying back at his body. Quick to react to the attack due to years of experience, he just managed to knock the attack away and retreated several feet away. Looking up, he saw the reason the large halberd had suddenly returned to attack him. Attached to the pommel of the sword was the light blue energy whip of the hanyou that extended all the way back to his body.

"Interesting."

Hearing his brother's remark, Iya yanked on his whip and brought his sword back to him. Not releasing the whip, he let go of the hilt of his sword and grabbed hold of the whip. Bringing the whip above his head, he began swinging the blade around in a circular manner as he examined his brother's defenses momentarily. Vanishing, he reappeared quickly directly in front of his brother and flung the sword at his brother. Narrowly missing the dog demon's head, he pressed the attack and drew back his blade only to throw it again. Again and again, he flung it straight at his brother, who could only dodge or block it.

Suddenly finding his brother in front of him with his blade poised to strike, the hanyou leapt away but not before tugging on his whip. Eyes widening, the dog demon heard the sword attached to the whip approaching spinning rapidly towards him. At the last moment, he managed to duck it, earning a light growl from the hanyou.

Pressing the attack, Iya continued to fling his blade out at his brother. Each strike was either blocked or dodged at the last moment. Not letting up, the hanyou continued to keep his brother off balance as he changed the way he threw the blade so not to settle into a familiar attack pattern that would become readable.

Throwing the sword and jerking on the whip that held it so that it started cutting horizontally instead when he returned the blade, the hanyou watched as his brother's top received a minor cut in it's sleeve. "_Damn, nearly had him that time. It looks like he's having a hard time at determining how I'll use Ketsaiga attached to my whip. At least this proves he can't predict my moves too well so far, which is good. I'll just have to keep using that to my advantage._"

"Not bad, little brother. You've created a very unique style that is nearly unpredictable. By attaching your whip to your sword, you can fling it at this Sesshomaru, yet return it in a different pattern as well. Very innovative and admirable for you to do."

Pausing momentarily as he closed his golden orbs, only to open them back up and reveal a hardness in them, Sesshomaru added "However, it has a weakness."

"Is that so?" Iya questioned as he began swinging the sword at his side by using the energy whip to do so.

Vanishing in a flash and reappearing several feet behind his brother with his sword held out to his left side, the dog demon remarked "Indeed. You require that whip to remain attached to your sword in order to continue attacking with it as is."

Without warning, the energy whip attached to the hilt of the hanyou's blade dissipated, causing the spinning blade to flip up high into the air. Releasing a small sigh, the hanyou disappeared in a blur, only to reappear high in the air retrieving his sword. Flashing away again, he soon materialized on the ground.

"I know the weakness of using my sword that way better than you think. Every style of combat has at least one weakness. That is certain. Even though I was using a new fighting style, you deciphered it's weakness quickly and efficiently. Exactly what I'd expect from the Lord of the Western Lands, but more importantly, my elder brother." Iya commented.

Turning around to face his brother once again, the dog demon took up a ready stance with his blade held out before him. His demonic aura suddenly flared to life around him, sending his hair and clothing floating about around his body.

At the same time, the dog hanyou did the same and showed no signs of backing down. His bound hair attempted to break free of it's binding, but was unsuccessful. Clutching his sword's hilt even tighter, he felt a low rumbling growl forcing it's way out of his throat.

Charging one another at full pace, the pair's blades soon met with a sound of steel clashing ringing throughout the area. The pair separated quickly with their backs to one another and remained still as their clothing continued to rustle. Without warning, a spray of blood and a cut erupted from the hanyou's right shoulder. At the same time, a similar cut appeared on the dog demon's left shoulder.

Turning to face one another, each of the two fighters looked one another over before each suddenly allowed small smiles to appear on their faces.

"You're enjoying this, aren't you big brother?"

Impassively, the dog demon remarked "This Sesshomaru has not had many opponents who have the skills you possess. Such a rare opportunity should not be wasted."

Lightly chuckling, Iya retorted "I suppose so. Let's see how you do with this."

Throwing his blade into the air, the hanyou launched his energy whip at it and expertly wrapped it around the hilt. Grapping a portion of the whip, he started spinning the whip, sending the sword whizzing around in a circular pattern.

"Did you learn nothing from our last encounter, little brother? That attack will not work on this Sesshomaru."

Still spinning his sword rapidly, the dog hanyou quipped "We'll see."

Watching the hanyou unexpectedly leap into the air and fling the halberd at him, the dog demon brought his sword up and expertly deflected the attack upwards. His eyes immediately widened when the hanyou appeared directly in front of him several feet in the air and was drawing his sword back with use of the whip.

Knowing he still had the element of surprise, Iya slammed Ketsaiga into his brother's Bakusaiga with all his might. The two blades shot a shower of sparks out from the impact, along with a chilling ringing of steel. At the same time, the impact of the two blades meeting forced the ground beneath the dog demon to break asunder from the sheer forceful impact.

Not letting up, the hanyou quickly drew back his blade and launched into a series of successive slashes and stabs. None of them made it through his opponent's defenses, but it kept him from launching any counter attacks at the same time.

Forced backwards by the constant barrage of attacks form his brother, the dog demon finally stood his ground and pushed his brother away. Confused when his brother charged forward again, the demon lord found himself to remain on the defensive. The movements of his attacker were well planned out and meant to leave him without any way of countering.

Several minutes passed before the two suddenly split apart, both heavily panting. Amber met muddy brown momentarily before the two charged one another. Smashing their swords against each others, the pair suddenly flashed away. In the air, a clash was heard and a spray of sparks evident of the transaction, but the two was not seen. Again and again, the same process repeated throughout the barrier, leaving the onlookers to only watch and wait.

000

000

Eyes darting back and forth, Totosai let out a low chuckle, saying "My, my, those two sure aren't holding back. I can't remember the last time I've seen them go so fast."

"It has been some time since they last sparred full on." Myoga commented, all the while his eyes kept up with the high speed movements of the pair within the barrier.

Cracking a small smile, the old sword smith remarked "To think that they would be so evenly matched is a bit surprising."

"What's so surprising about that?" Inuyasha butted in. "Iya is tough you know."

"It's not about him being tough, Inuyasha." the elder demon replied in an exhausted tone. "You know that those two have quite a few years of age difference separating them?"

"Of course I know that much!"

"Don't get snippy with me, pup." Totosai snapped. Scratching his chin momentarily, he continued on, saying "Iya was trained much like Sesshomaru was. He first was taught how to fight hand to hand by the old dog general himself when that pup was very young. Once he had progressed, he was made to spar with Sesshomaru. Naturally, with the fact that Sesshomaru was older and stronger, Iya lost almost all their bouts."

Chuckling, he added "He won a few, but very few. As Iya got older, he gained ground on his older brother. Eventually, the pair were able to go toe to toe with one another, much like how they are doing so now."

"Not long after Iya received Ketsaiga, he began having sparring sessions with Sesshomaru to learn better control of his sword. It was mostly one sided again, with the elder brother proving he had something Iya did not."

"What did he have?" Inuyasha questioned as he threw a glance at the older demon.

Letting a small smile cross his face, the sword smith answered "Battle experience. That was the deciding factor in their fights. Sesshomaru had seen combat by that point and time, so Iya was unable to read his brother's movements as fluently as he does now. On the other hand, Iya had had no combat experience outside of sparring with the great dog demon and his brother. He was hopelessly outmatched in every way imaginable."

"The years slowly passed and Iya progressed, but he still could not decipher all of Sesshomaru's movements. He was sent into battle and learned a great deal from it. As well, he managed to increase his own speed and strength over time. However, Iya had three things going against him to ever be on equal footing with Sesshomaru."

Frowning, Kouga spoke up, asking "What three things?"

Bouncing up and down for a moment before settling, Myoga said "He lacked three very important things. The first of which was his age. Due that he was very young, Master Iya was inexperienced in battle and did not know how to anticipate his opponent's attacks. He would remain calm and study his opponent, but he could not end a battle decisively very easily on his own."

"The second thing that pup lacked was battle experience, which goes hand in hand with age in all actuality." Totosai explained. "Due to his young age and lack of experience, Sesshomaru often found it easy to take advantage of Iya in their sparring sessions."

Folding his four arms over his chest, the flea added "Lastly, he lacked one thing that was somewhat crucial when facing a demon. He was a hanyou, thus lacked the speed and power of a full demon. Obviously, those things are necessary to keep up with Lord Sesshomaru."

Contemplating the words of the elder demons, Inuyasha slowly said, if not questioned "But he overcame those things he lacked."

"He did indeed, but after much training." the sword smith assured. "Iya fought evenly with Sesshomaru before leaving to take on The Thirteen. Even though they didn't get along, they did spar on occasion."

"You see, it's no surprise after all these years, those two are still on par with one another. In his travels, Iya managed to attain battle experience, not to mention ways to increase his speed and power. Against foes like The Thirteen, he had no choice. It is because of that mission that he put himself through such harsh training regiments and was able to defeat them in due time."

Sitting back down on the sword smith's shoulder, the flea added in "At the same time, Lord Sesshomaru has been forced to defend the Western Lands, along with fight many battles. He pushed himself hard as well, but at the same time, he did not advance nearly as far as Iya appears to have."

Looking back at the battle, the four noticed the pair of brothers no longer were unseen, but were on the ground, panting heavily. Smiling gently, Totosai quietly said "The end is near."

000

000

Heavily panting while sweat poured down the sides of his face and coated his forehead, Iya eyed his brother's minor wounds, making him inwardly groan. "_I'm inflicting some damage to him, but he's still nowhere near going down. Nothing I've tried yet has breached his defenses, and what little that has he quickly compensated for. I know I can beat him, but the longer this fight drags out, the less likely I can. He has far more reserves than me._"

Eyes going wide suddenly when his brother vanished into thin air, the hanyou quickly spun around and parried a slash intended to lop off his head. A shower of sparks rained down from the two swords meeting, as well as the sound of steel ringing out.

Breaking off his attack, Sesshomaru ran his eyes over his brother's slightly wounded form. Not finding any weaknesses in his brother's defenses, the dog demon couldn't help but feel a small bit of pride well up within himself.

"_He has come a long way since our training long ago. Father believed in him, as have I come to do so as well._"

Bursting into his mind instantly was a memory of the last moments with his father. His father had just done battle with Ryukotsusei and sealed the powerful dragon away, but had walked away with several fatal wounds. The two had talked shortly, mostly over what was most important.

"_Sesshomaru, you once seemed to find that in life which could fulfill it. Do you desire power so much? Why do you seek power, my son?_"

"_The path I walk is the way of supreme conquest, and it is power that will reveal the way for me._"

"_Supreme conquest. Tell me, Sesshomaru, have you someone to protect?_"

Sliding his eyes shut momentarily, the dog demon opened them to eye his brother. "_I was such a fool then. Father gave me the answer I needed, yet I did not understand. After what I did to Kaoru, I could not grasp father's concept. I could not see past my own rage and ambition._"

"_But you, Iya, you understood. You understood father's words. For that, I am envious. I now understand, but all these years, I failed to see the truth in his words. To protect someone, to be willing to sacrifice your life for that person and willing to give up everything for them, that is to have true power. Father lived by such words, as does Iya. Even Inuyasha has learned, as have I at long last. Perhaps that is why it is you that must defeat the Lord of the South._"

Taking a deep breath to finish calming his breathing, the dog demon called out "Let us end this fight, little brother."

"I couldn't agree with you more." Iya fired back.

Sliding back into ready stances, both summoned forth their demonic auras. Their auras flared about them and up and down their swords, sending their clothing and hair tussling in the fell wind. Both locked eyes, each finding that the other had no hesitation within them and only the desire to win the battle reflecting.

Charging all at once, the pair raced towards one another, swords ready to strike. Reaching each other, their blades met and a massive explosion followed way, hiding the results of the battle from the outside onlookers.

Bit by bit, the smoke and dust dissipated, along with the light from the explosion. Revealed at last, the two opponents became visible, each standing before one another with their blades raised at the others' throat. At the same time, deep gashes bled through their clothing, showing the extent of their attack on one another.

"A draw?" Inuyasha and Kouga questioned aloud in shock.

"Seems that way." Myoga confirmed.

At the same time, both smirked at one another prior to the pair removing their blades from each other's throats. A moment passed before the barrier surrounding them dispersed.

Moving towards the pair silently, Totosai smoothly said "Well, well, a most impressive battle. I believe he has proven himself, don't you, Sesshomaru?"

"Hn."

"Looks like you called it wrong, flea bag."

Throwing a glare at Inuyasha, Kouga countered "You were wrong too!"

Feigning bewilderment, Iya slowly asked "What are you two talking about?"

"Dog breath there said you would win the fight and bet thirty-five pieces of silver on it."

"Yeah, well, you bet Sesshomaru would win, yet he lost too! So come off it, you called it wrong also you mangy wolf!" Inuyasha snapped back.

"And we said it would end in a draw, so pay up you two." Totosai victoriously declared.

Getting a fearful look on his face, the silver haired hanyou mumbled "Kagome is going to kill me for wasting that money on this bet."

Sighing, Iya shook his head, muttering "I can't believe the four of you, betting on who would win our fight."

"Disappointing to say the least for the character of the Lord of the North." Sesshomaru coldly said.

"Hey, it seemed like a sure thing! I mean you …" Kouga defensively began, but was cut off promptly by a look from the Lord of the West that silenced him.

Chuckling at the wolf demon, Iya coolly said "Let's return to the stronghold. We should probably get ourselves healed before our mates find out what transpired."

000

000

Laying on their backs panting heavily in one of the many training areas surrounding the Western Stronghold, both Iya and Ichigo stared up at the sky as they tried to calm their breathing. Both were drenched in sweat and small amounts of blood from several wounds, but none were too concerning to either fighter.

"You've… gotten… good, Ichigo." Iya rasped out between breaths.

In a winded breath, Ichigo replied "You … too."

Slowly regaining control of his breathing, the dog hanyou sat up and questioned "So that was the power of your hollow?"

Mutely nodding his head, the quarter demon answered "Yeah, that was his power. I've yet to bring out all his power at once, but I'm getting a better handle on it than I once had a few months ago."

Becoming quiet for a moment, he slowly added "I'm not too worried about him acting up anymore, but that thought is still in the back of my head when I put my mask on. I know it's his power and that gives him the open door to possibly take over, but he knows better since I made him submit twice."

Falling back onto his back again, the hanyou stared up at the sky for a few moments, leaving a silence between himself and his partner. At last, he broke the silence, saying "It's hard to believe a month has nearly passed. In one more week, we leave for the Southern Lands."

"Scared?"

Shaking his head, Iya replied "Not really. I have more than enough to worry about, but as for myself, I'm not really scared of what might happen to me. The war will end one way or another, I promise you that."

Glancing over at the hanyou, the quarter demon quietly said "Don't sacrifice yourself."

"I don't intend to."

"You were more than willing to do so against The Thirteen. It was like you were possessed to take them down, no matter the cost. So again, don't sacrifice your life needlessly. You have people important to you that count on your very survival. Don't do something stupid."

Lightly chuckling, the hanyou ruefully remarked "I know that. You don't have to remind me about the fact that my mate's life is in my hands as well as my own."

"However, I won't allow the Lord of the South to continue this stupid war. What he has done to Japan is unforgivable. I cannot turn a blind eye to what he did. If it's the last thing I do, I will make certain he no longer has the capability to wage war."

Letting out a soft sigh, the quarter demon simply nodded to his partner and returned his vision skyward. Silence engulfed the pair for several minutes before the dog hanyou suddenly stood up and dusted himself off and offhandedly asked "Why haven't you mated with Orihime?"

"What the hell kind of question is that!" Ichigo roared as he was on his feet immediately. "I mean, come on! Where did that come from!"

Heavy sighing and turning away from his friend, the hanyou softly said "You're still not over her loss."

Taken back by the hanyou, the quarter demon looked down at the ground for a moment. In a low tone, he muttered "I can't help but worry what kind of mate I would be for Orihime."

"Orihime, she's the one I want to be with. In my heart, I know that much. But then my fears creep in to remind me how I failed to protect Rukia. She depended on me for protection, yet I let her die, by my own hand no less."

Holding his hand out low in front of him, the quarter demon stared at his hand for a moment until he said "Rukia died by my hand because I was too weak to protect her from Kenshin Himura. If not for my inability to protect her and save her from such a cruel fate, she would still be here right now by my side."

"The future is always uncertain, Ichigo." Iya stated in a quiet tone. "I did not know how my own future would turn out when I mated with Lilly. My demon side chose her, along with my human and hanyou sides. It's true that I marked her while in my demon form, but deep down in my heart, I knew then and there that I wanted her by my side always and forever. That's why when she chose to accept my feelings and she asked to mark me, I couldn't say no to her. I love her and could never deny that."

Turning to face the quarter demon, he added "You love Orihime, that much is clear. However, you must not doubt your ability to protect her. I too had doubts over my own ability to protect Lilly from danger, but I realized in due time that no matter what happened I couldn't doubt myself. Doubt only makes you distance yourself from the one you love, and by doing that, you hurt them more than you do by failing to protect them."

Closing the distance between them, the hanyou placed a gentle hand on his partner's shoulder and kindly said "I know in my heart you will make the correct decision, but you must remember, to leave the one you love waiting too long is costly. Orihime loves you with all her heart, but she may not wait forever on you to make up your own mind on that fact. Sometimes one loves someone so much they must let that person go, and if you're not careful, she may do so to you."

Watching the quarter demon look up with a touch of fear in his eyes, the hanyou smiled. "But I doubt Orihime would give up that easily. Just remember, she loves you, so don't keep her waiting forever."

Processing the words of his friend, the quarter demon mutely nodded his head and glanced up at the late afternoon sky. Feeling like a load had been lifted off of his heart, he said "Thank you, Iya."

"Don't worry about it." the hanyou commented as he picked his sword up off the ground and returned it to it's sheath. "I must be going, I told Sesshomaru I'd meet him to discuss some minute issues that have arisen in the battle plans."

Walking off, the hanyou suddenly stopped and threw a look over his shoulder at the still standing quarter demon before saying "Don't let her slip away."

Continuing onwards, Iya smiled to himself. "_Sometimes Ichigo, you just need someone to kick start you in the right direction._"

000

000

Sitting under a leafy oak tree and cooling off from their training session were Lilly, Yoshe, and Orihime. Each of the girls had minor cuts and scrapes on their bodies from their training, but no serious injuries. All three girls were sipping from bamboo canteens, allowing the cool water to refresh and hydrate their tired bodies.

"That was one of our most intense training sessions in a while." Lilly commented as she leaned back against the tree to relax her aching body. Reaching up and wiping her brow, she added "I don't think we've fought that way in quite some time."

"I agree." Yoshe answered with a small smile. Summoning a bit of her ice powers to chill the air around them in order to give them some comfort, the ice demoness said "It's not much, but I can at least help lessen our discomfort."

"We could have just went swimming." Orihime suggested. "I doubt anyone will find us."

Thinking on the bobcat mage's words momentarily, the ice demoness shook her head, saying "I don't think so. I need to be returning to the stronghold very soon. Sesshomaru wished to share a dinner with me tonight, and I just have enough time to return to get prepared."

"That's nice of him to want to do that." the neko softly remarked.

Nodding her head, the ice demoness stood up and dusted off her elegant yukata. Flashing a smile at the pair, she kindly said "I will see the two of you tomorrow."

"Good evening, Yoshe." both the hanyou and mage simultaneously replied.

Watching the demoness taking her leave grow smaller and smaller from her sight, Lilly let out a soft sigh as she leaned back against the tree a little more. Yawning, she slid her emerald eyes shut and inhaled the scents all around her.

Eyes lazily opening, she slid a glance towards the silent mage. A bit hesitant, she decided to break the peace and quiet.

"Ichigo and you are courting, right?"

Earning herself a small nod of acknowledgement, the neko's brow furrowed. "How long?"

"Four years nearly."

Cut the neko off from asking her next question, Orihime quietly said "I haven't been pressing him over mating with me. He's not ready for it."

A touch ashamed for asking something so personal, but at the same time embarrassed that the mage had figured out her line of questioning, the neko replied "I'm sorry."

"It's alright, Lilly. That is something that has been on my mind as well as of late. I often ponder on it at times, but then I remember that I must be patient with Ichigo. His heart hasn't fully recovered from the loss of Rukia, his first mate. That's why I refuse to press the issue with him any longer. I love him, but I won't force him into something he isn't ready for."

Admiring the wise words of the bobcat demoness, Lilly smiled weakly at her and said "You're far wiser than I am."

Shaking her head and lightly chuckling at the same time, the bobcat mage wistfully responded with "I'm not wise at all. If I was, life would be much simpler."

Still slightly smiling, the neko leaned back against the tree and inhaled the air, only to frown instantly as she sat back up. Throwing a confused look at the demoness, the hanyou quietly asked "Orihime, are you... um, in heat?"

"I thought I had fully masked my scent. I guess it slipped a little since I used up so much power during that fight."

"Why aren't you cooped up?" Lilly questioned with concern ringing in her voice.

Giggling, the mage replied "You needn't worry about me going into heat. In fact, I've been going into heat around demons for many years. My heats are a bit mild and less crippling than the heats other demons receive. To be honest, I've rarely kept to myself during them. Usually I just spend a few hours a day during my heats pleasuring myself to keep those irritating feelings tamped down enough to allow me to concentrate."

Finding a blush spreading across the neko's cheeks, the mage let out another giggle. "I'm surprised, you're a neko and yet you're still not comfortable talking about sex openly, are you?"

In a heated, but embarrassed tone, the neko hanyou grit out "I'm only half neko, and at that I am more human than neko."

After a long moment of uncomfortable silence, the demoness lightly giggled again. "It's alright to be embarrassed. Some demons are very open about it, like bobcats. For me to say out loud that I pleasure myself to relieve my heat isn't anything too shocking really, but that's to a bobcat demon probably."

"But I thought demons would not be able to keep themselves from... you know... with someone else while in heat." Lilly shyly countered.

Smiling a bit at the obviously embarrassed hanyou, Orihime remarked "Most demons do have that trouble, but again, I have rather mild heats. I don't think I've had to have it relieved for many years to be quite honest. Plus, thanks to my powers, I'm able to lighten my heats even more, which helps a lot. The last time I actually laid with anyone while in heat was probably at least fifty or sixty years ago."

Eyes widening, the neko blurted out "It's been that long since you've ..."

Amused by the suddenly shade of blush coating the neko's cheeks, the demoness burst out loud into fits of laughter and rolled onto her side. She laughed for a few minutes before at last regaining control. Sitting up, she found an unhappy hanyou, but still couldn't help but let out a few stifled giggles.

"I'm sorry, really I am." Orihime managed to say between chuckles. "It's just cute to see your reactions to this subject is all."

Regaining control, she added "No, it hasn't been that long since I've lain with anyone."

Grinning devilishly at the crimson blush now covering the neko's face, the mage commented "I know, sounds bad to you, but oh well. Anyways, it's been over ten years since I have done anything like that."

"Oh..." was the only response she received.

"At any rate, you shouldn't worry about me being in heat. I can take care of it like I have for years. I know you're probably concerned that I'll end up like Iya or Sango, but I have a lot of practice in dealing with it. I usually mask my scent so others won't become distracted by me, as well I make sure that I don't allow myself to be alone with a man for too long. You'll probably be surprised to know that I go into heat monthly."

Shock and surprise covered Lilly's face as she quietly said "Oh, I didn't know."

Nodding her head, Orihime added "It's alright. Bobcats just have monthly heats. It's nothing to be concerned about."

Standing up and glancing up at the setting sun, the mage flashed a quick smile at the neko before saying "I'm going to return to the stronghold now. I need to take care of this pesky heat. I'll see you tomorrow, ok?"

"Yeah, that's fine."

Waving to the neko, the mage took her leave, leaving the neko behind to her thoughts.

000

000

Finding himself standing outside of Orihime's room, Ichigo tried to find the courage within himself to knock on the door. He had been standing there for several minutes, each time he was about to knock, he would lower his hand and turn to walk away. This was his fifth attempt, but he found himself still unable to go through with it.

"_Damn it, just knock on the door! You've faced opponents many times stronger than yourself without any fear, yet to simply ask one question to someone, I can't find the courage!_"

Taking a deep breath, the quarter demon raised his hand to knock, only to have the door suddenly open.

**Thanks everyone for reading the chapter. Now, if you could do me a kind favor and review to let me know what you think of the chapter, I'd appreciate it. Till next time!**


	11. Chapter 11: Bonds and Trust

**Hello once again everyone! It's such a beautiful day here. The temperature is nearly 70, which is a shocker to say the least for this time of year. Especially after the last few months of nonstop snow. But it's all good. Hmm, not much new really in my life. Just about the same, so I'll move on.**

**Writing wise, things are progressing, though I realize now I have far too many thoughts in my head, lol. Not just for this story, but for other stories that I want to write on. I have a few fics rolling around in this big jarhead of mine, lol. Hopefully I'll get time to write them out in the near future. As for this story, it's all good, so no worries.**

**Like I have warned in the last two chapters, this story is now rated M. That change in rating is due to this chapter. I'm sure many can guess why. At any rate, I do hope all of you continue to read and aren't offended. You can skip past the part that is rated M and not have to worry about it effecting the story completely.**

**Thank you as always to Kattana for reviewing. As well, thanks to my mate, who finally caught up on my stories. Also, thank you auronsword for reviewing and marking my story for alerts. I really appreciate all three of you for reviewing the previous chapter.**

**Oh yeah, to any who haven't reviewed yet, I do encourage you to do so. It is really helpful when I get feedback on my story. It shows me whether I'm moving in the right direction or not. Good or bad, feedback is instrumental to a writer's growth. Without it, one can't discern if they are progressing or not. I want to grow as a writer, so please, if you can, review or PM me what you think of the story. It's important to me, to say the least.**

**Well, that'll do it for this round. I hope everyone likes this chapter. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 11**

"It's not working." Orihime dejectedly muttered as she rose up out of the steaming hot water of the hot spring she had been soaking in. Reaching out and picking up a terry cloth towel she had brought out with her, she began drying her large chest and arms while she slowly drew herself up out of the spring.

"_Normally a few good hours of pleasuring myself is more than enough to quell the effects of my heat, but it's not working this time. I've tried different things, even using my powers to reverse the effects, but it's not doing anything to help push away this raging need to have sex._"

Finishing up with drying her petit body off, she threw the towel to the ground and grabbed a nearby indigo silk robe she had discarded earlier. Slipping into it and tying the sash shut, she grasped hold of the hair clip on the back of her head that held her hair up in a bun. Releasing it, her orange-brown hair spilled down to just below her mid-back. Shaking her head a few times to shake out her hair, she let out a frustrated sigh before grabbing up the towel she had thrown down and stalked over to the shoji door.

Effortlessly sliding the door open, she entered into her room and shut the door behind herself. Taking the towel across the room to where the servants picked it up normally, she placed it into the small pile of clothing before padding silently across the stone floor a short ways to the large bed and threw herself onto it.

"I hate this."

Closing her gray eyes, she placed her hands onto her stomach and let out another sigh. "_I hate being alone like this during my heat. Usually since my heats are mild, I can be out and interacting with people, but this time I know for certain I'm going to have to remain cooped up for a few days._"

"_At least we're not leaving for another six days, so time is on my side, but it's always so lonely when I'm forced to remain locked up. The last time I had to do this was..._"

Stopping herself from going down memory lane, she reached a hand up and covered her eyes for a moment. In doing so, images of a young man with short red spiky hair and auburn eyes that seemed filled with kindness, but hid something within them. Without warning, a bone white mask formed over his face and glowing red eyes filled the eye holes of the mask.

Eyes snapping open, Orihime felt her heart within her chest racing as a few tears slid down her cheeks. "_Even after all these years, I still can't shake my feelings of fear of Yahiko. I'm not afraid of Ichigo like I once was. The more I'm in contact with him while he's using his mask, the more I realize that he would never hurt me on purpose, that he's using that power to protect me. Even so, it's something that I may never be fully accustomed to._"

Thoughts turning to said quarter demon, images of him kissing her entered into her minds, along with hazy desires of him going further. Releasing a heavy sigh, the mage shook her head and sat up onto her elbows.

"_I won't force Ichigo into such a thing. If and when he's ready to mate, I'll be waiting._"

Suddenly sensing the familiar aura of the quarter demon, her brow furrowed when she pinpointed his position right outside her door. Staring at the door for a nearly a minute and waiting on him to knock, she at last stood up and padded across the cool floor towards the door.

"_Why is he here?_"

Deciding to get her answer, she opened the door to find a surprised Ichigo with his hand raised to knock on the door. Staring at him for less than a few seconds, she felt her heat roaring within herself and demanding her to drag the quarter demon into her room to rid herself of her desire. Pushing the troublesome thoughts to the back corners of her mind, she forced a smile to her face.

"Ichigo, is there something I can help you with?"

Just staring at her for several moments, Ichigo tried to find the words he wanted to say but instead opened and closed his mouth several times. At last finding the words he wanted to say, he asked "May I come in?"

"_Oh you don't know the half of it._" Orihime's perverted thoughts stated. "_If I bring him into my room, there is a good chance I'll give into my desire. But it would be flat out rude to turn him away. Something is bothering him. I guess I can handle my heat for a short period of time._"

Mutely nodding her head, the demoness turned and walked back into her room. Falling in line behind her, the quarter demon shut the door and followed after her. Walking behind her, he couldn't help but focus his eyes on her backside and intensely study her swaying hips.

Mentally berating himself, he muttered "_No, control yourself. Do this right, Ichigo._"

"_However, something seems off. She felt fake at the door, like she was forcing herself to smile at me. I wonder what's going on._"

Deciding to check out her scent, he sniffed the air to find that her scent filled the room, giving him the impression of drowning within it. Finding her scent was a touch off, he sniffed a little more closely and felt himself unwillingly responding to the spiced scent he was picking up. Realizing it, he quickly pushed the thoughts away, but could not help but feel some of his inner desires screaming to come out.

Managing to regain control, he sniffed the air one last time to find another scent was within the room. It was mainly coming from the direction of her bed, but also seemed to trail out towards the shoji door that led to the private hot spring connected to her room.

Trying to determine the scent he had picked up, it suddenly hit him what it was. Cheeks reddening, he came to a stop in the middle of the room.

Hearing the quarter demon's footsteps unexpectedly stop, Orihime glanced over her shoulder to find he standing perfectly still in the middle of the room. Frowning, she noticed he was blushing deeply and shuffling his feet a bit.

"What's gotten into you?" she gently questioned.

Reaching up behind his head and rubbing it absentmindedly, he whispered "Uh, I ... I can tell this ... this is a bad time. I can ... can come back another time."

Puzzled at his response, she took a sniff of the air to find her spiced scent and the scent from the results of her pleasuring hanging in the air. Mentally slapping herself in the forehead, she couldn't help but feel a touch of embarrassment to expose the quarter demon to such a thing.

"No, I'm sorry... I guess I should be honest with you about what's going ..."

"You're in heat, right?"

Letting out a surprised gasp, the mage was silent for a few awkward moments until she asked "How did you know?"

Looking away with blush staining his cheeks brightly, he uncomfortably replied "I remembered how Iya's scent had that same spiced scent in it. When I put two and two together, it made sense to assume you're in heat. Besides, I could smell the same thing when Lisa went into heat."

"Not to mention, it explains that other scent." he added as his blush deepened.

A bit more embarrassed by being caught by the one she longed for, the demoness weakly said "I'm sorry. I didn't think about you picking up on what's happening."

Turning away so that his back was to her, Ichigo remarked "Don't worry about it. I better go, seeing how you're going in."

"Wait, what did you want to talk about?" Orihime protested and edged towards him.

"I ... Uh, well ... It can wait."

Shaking her head rapidly, she firmly retorted "No, just tell me. I can keep my heat under control till you're done with it."

Feeling the mage's eyes boring into his back and waiting on his reply, the quarter demon silently cursed his luck. "_Of course she'd be in heat when I want to ask her to mate. Damn, could things get any worse!_"

"_You should go for it, King._" a familiar, twisted voice declared within his mind. "_Just think, bobcats are said to get pretty wound up when in heat! You'll have all night to make her yours!_"

"_Shut the hell up!_" Ichigo demanded to the voice of his hollow. Squeezing his eyes shut, he saw the white skinned double of himself smirking with his golden eyes revealing mischief.

Chuckling with a hint of insanity in his voice, the hollow retorted "_I'm just trying to support you, King. I mean, you know you want her and that she is rightfully yours since you've been courting her for the last few years. Take what is rightfully yours!_"

"_I don't need you telling me what to do! Now leave me the hell alone or do I need to remind you of your place?_"

Smirking at the quarter demon, the hollow evenly remarked "_I know my place, King. Don't look now, but you're looking a bit spaced out thanks to this conversation. Good luck, King._"

Coming out of his thoughts, Ichigo gasped when he noticed Orihime was in front of him now and looking worriedly at him. The words of his inner hollow rang through his mind, making him silently curse himself for such perverted thoughts.

"Are you ok?"

Forcing himself to calm down by taking a few deep breaths, he quickly found that doing so only invigorated his perverted thoughts due to the spiced scent of the demoness. Knowing that his hollow had probably tricked him so that this would happen, the quarter demon inwardly groaned.

Opening his brown eyes to look into somewhat clouded gray ones, Ichigo answered "I'm fine, Orihime."

"I was worried. You got very quiet and just seemed to be spaced out."

Not wanting her to worry anymore, he quietly said "I'm sorry about that."

Forming a question within her mind slowly, she softly asked "Was it your hollow?"

Unconsciously rubbing the back of his head, the quarter demon nodded his head and remarked "He wanted to just stir up things. That's all. No worries."

Convinced enough that he was fine, she nodded her head and said "Alright. Now then, what was it you wanted to talk about?"

Feeling his cheeks starting to heat up again as his heart felt like it was beating even faster than before, Ichigo started to speak, only to open his mouth and close it slowly. Crossing his arms over his chest and turning his back to her, a deep blush started setting in.

"If something is wrong, you can tell me." Orihime coaxed, nervousness seemingly seeping from her voice.

Letting out a heavy sigh and shaking his head slightly, the quarter demon slowly moved himself back around to look at her with a soft look. "Nothing is wrong."

"_Don't let her slip away._"

The words of Iya rang throughout his mind, making Ichigo inwardly sigh. "_Iya is right, the time for letting her wait is over._"

Gathering his courage up, he forced himself to look into her gray orbs. Feeling himself beginning to hesitate again, he steeled his mind. Slowly in a low whisper, he said "I came here because I wanted to talk to you about our future."

Hearing his words didn't sink in immediately, but a moment later, the reality of them dawned on the bobcat mage. Blushing a bit and starting to turn away, she felt a tender hand reach out and take her own in it.

"Orihime, I've hesitated for way too long and made you wait what must have felt like an eternity. I can only offer apologies for my failure to make my feelings known."

Eyes looking down at the ground, he quietly said "I held back all these years because I was afraid that I could never be strong enough to protect you. I lost one mate due to my weakness, so to take another and fail again would have been too much. It was an excuse, a flimsy one at that. For that, I apologize for making you wait."

Feeling his eyes return to her face, the demoness felt her breath hitch in her throat. The look he gave her was one of a man that had made a decision and was committed to it, at any cost. Her heart felt like it was about to fly out of her chest due to all the pounding it was doing.

"I came here to ask you something important. Something that I should have asked you long ago, but I was too scared to. No more hesitating."

Staring her directly in the eye, Ichigo softly asked "Orihime Inoue, can you find it in your heart to become my mate?"

Tears immediately welled up within her eyes and trailed down her cheeks. Silently, she nodded her head before she at last found her voice and croaked out "Yes, yes I will."

_**Warning: After this warning, a lemon shall proceed to start. If you do not wish to read it, skip ahead to where the following appears: End of lemon. Do a search on it to speed up the process. Again, this is a warning, so if you wish not to read it, skip ahead.**_

Feeling the weight of the world being lifted off his shoulders, the quarter demon reached out and pulled the mage into a tight embrace. Gently, he placed a kiss onto her lips. Smiling as he tasted them, he soon felt her responding to his kiss. Deepening it after a moment, he reached out and cupped her cheek with his calloused hand, being mindful to be as gentle as possible.

Mind reeling from the rush of emotions, the demoness focused on the quarter demon's taste. Looping her arms around his neck, she pulled herself flush up against his body and deepened the kiss even more. Her nagging heat was demanding she rip his clothes off and get to the main event, but she forced those thoughts into the back of her mind.

Coming up for air, the pair rested their heads against one another, with the quarter demon towering over the demoness by a head. Inhaling much needed air, the two rested for several moments before the quarter demon spoke up.

"Let's take care of that pesky heat."

Pulling back and shaking her head a few times, the demoness replied "It can wait. I want to do this right, since it is our mating night. I can hold it back till we're done."

Smiling back, Ichigo nodded his head and said "Alright, we will."

Inclining his head down and placing a gentle kiss on his mate-to-be's lips, the quarter demon slowly began to deepen the kiss like last time. A bit surprised, he felt the demoness's hands release the loop she had been previously holding around his neck and took hold of his hands. Feeling his hands moved so that she made him move his hands along her body's figure, he hesitantly did as he thought she was implying. Slowly, his hands began roaming down her body, starting with her arms, then tracing the sides of her breasts down to her flat stomach, followed by the curve of her hips before running back up her backside. Feeling her hair, he ran his fingers through it, enjoying the feeling of the silky orange-brown tresses.

At the same time, the demoness felt her body responding to his touches and aching for so much more. Though they were gentle and unsure, she could tell he was doing what felt naturally or what he had learned from his previously mating. Not minding, she moved her hands forward and caressed his cheeks gently prior to letting them travel down to his chest and feel it.

Breaking the kiss at last, the quarter demon stepped back and pulled the huge cloth covered sword off his back and stood it in the corner of the room, next to the mage's own zanpakutō. Returning to her, he ran his eyes over her body, finding her slender form within the indigo robe seemed far too sinful.

Feeling his scrutinizing gaze on her body, Orihime returned a lust filled gaze at his own body. Eyeing his body, she found that it seemed just the same as when she had met him all the years ago, if not slightly more lean and muscular.

Noticing the stirring within his lower regions, Ichigo moved forward towards the demoness again, intent on trying to make his mate-to-be's experience one to remember. Unpracticed hands reached out and took hold of the ends of the sash that kept her robe tied shut. With little effort, the knot was undone and the ends of the sash fell to her sides.

Taking a deep breath to reign in his wild thoughts of what to do, he gradually raised his arms up and gently cupped her cheeks. Finding that she wasn't trying to stop him or change his mind, he proceeded to reach down and slid the robe open to on her shoulders until it dropped down, only to be caught at her elbows. The motion revealed her breasts to him fully, giving him full sight of the two large mounds.

Licking his lips and gathering his courage, the quarter demon whispered "Beautiful."

Blushing slightly at the comment, the demoness inched forward and took hold of his hands within her own. Guiding them down to her chest, she placed the two on top of both her breasts and released her grasp.

Cupping both breasts with his inexperienced hands, Ichigo gently squeezed them and soon began padding his thumbs over both half awakened nipples. Hearing a low gasp and moan escape the mage's mouth, he became a bit more daring and leaned in and placed a light feathery kiss on her lips. Trailing down from her mouth to her jaw, he placed several butterfly kisses along it and worked his way down her neck. He soon found his way down to her shoulders and inched downward until he was just above her chest.

Gently, he took a nipple into his mouth while his other hand continued to pad across her other nipple. This elicited several soft mews from the demoness, making him inwardly smile at the reaction to his touches. Switching after a minute to the other breast, he began sucking gently and licking around it, making sure it had just as much attention as the previous one had.

Satisfied with the work he had done, the quarter demon returned up the demoness's body and found her mouth. Kissing her gently at first, then hungrily, he could feel the desire building within her body just through the kiss. As well, the scent of her arousal was filling his nostrils and made his own blood feel like it was on fire.

Deciding to discard her robe, Orihime shrugged it off from her elbows, allowing it to drop to the ground in a pool of indigo silk. She knew immediately that Ichigo was staring at her body and could feel her own pride growing when she saw the lust reflecting within his own eyes.

"_Lust that is for me, and me alone._" she inwardly stated with a smile.

Knowing what he wished not only to do, but had to do, Ichigo began placing several feathery kisses down Orihime's body, starting with her forehead, cheeks, and jaw line. He soon worked his way down to her neck and then her breasts, only stopping to place delicate kisses on her nipples. Moving on down, he traced his way down across her flat and tone stomach, only stopping to place a small kiss on her belly button.

Finding his way on down her body, he soon came to right above the orange-brown hair that covered her lower regions. Kissing along the outside of the short curly hair, he passed right by her heated core and continued down her one thigh. Coming back up the other side, he again passed by on the outside, only letting his heated breath graze against the warm area.

Sensing a bit of distress coming off of the demoness, he decided to stop teasing her and proceeded to enter into the patch of hair and found her slit. Finding it was already wet with her own fluids, he licked up it at a maddeningly slow pace. Hearing her let out a writhing whimper only made him inwardly smirk.

"Ichigo ... please..." she begged as she reached down and ran her fingers through his longer than normal spiky orange hair. "I ... need you..."

Not letting her continue, he found her nub and flicked his tongue over it. A deep gasp could be heard from above him as her hands tightened within his hair. Continuing what he was doing, he began licking the wet folds at a slow pace at first, only to start to increase his speed slowly.

Reaching one hand up, he slid his index finger into her core, finding it extremely warm and wet within. At the same time, he heard her inhale sharply from the sudden intrusion, but soon heard her let out a light whimper as he pumped the digit in and out a few times. He soon added a second finger and started searching for her sweet spot. At the same time, his tongue ran over and lapped around her clit, setting the demoness's body ablaze from the spike of pleasure she felt.

After nearly a minute of searching for her sweet spot, he heard a strangled gasp and felt her knees buckle a bit as she leaned against him for support. Adding a third finger, he started pumping the three digits in and out in time with his swirling tongue around her nub. It didn't take very long for Orihime to suddenly cry out as her orgasm was reached and her body shook from the very force of it. At the same time, the wet walls within her core squeezed his fingers tightly, prompting him to pull them out and to cease his actions around her slit.

Finding she could bear her own weight and stand on her own, Ichigo stood back up with his three fingers still covered in white cream. Lifting them up, he tasted them and memorized the taste.

Panting lightly, Orihime looked up at the quarter demon for only a moment before she stilled her breathing and said in a raspy voice "You have ... on ... too many ... clothes."

Before he could react, she reached out and jerked the knot in his obi out and had the sash off of him instantly. Pulling his two kosodes off, she ran her hands over his bare chest, examining every inch of it at the same time. Finding a few minor battle scars, she gently touched them before moving on to the remainder of his unblemished skin. Kissing him passionately, she let her inner desire out for only a moment, revealing to him her intentions of making him hers.

Suddenly dropping to her haunches and dragging his pants down with her, she all but ripped his pants down to his knees. Helping him step out of his pants, as well as his socks and sandals, she found his member quickly and eyed it momentarily. He wasn't the largest she had seen, nor the smallest either.

"_He looks like he's just the right size to fit in me. He won't split me in half, but I'll be more than happy with what I see._"

Unsure what she was doing or if she was unhappy with his size, Ichigo began to speak, only to be hushed when Orihime's hand suddenly wrapped around his cock and gave it a few test tugs. The immediate results made his own desire grow by leaps and bounds. He was already hard to begin with, but with her handling him with her delicate and experienced hands, he felt like he was on fire.

Staring at the cock as she gently stroked it back and forth, she noticed several droplets of precum starting to form on the tip. Not wanting to waste it, she moved closer and licked the tip.

Hissing at the actions of the demoness, the quarter demon threw his head back as a knee jerk reaction. Looking down, he saw her moved forward again, this time engorging his member within her mouth.

Taking in only about half, she lowly hummed, earning her a response of another sharp hiss of pleasure. Smirking in her mind at what she had done, she slowly began to bob her head while she rolled her tongue over the cock at the same time. The reaction she earned came in the form of a low moan. Using one hand she had free, she reached up and began massaging his balls, making the quarter demon moan even louder from her efforts.

Feeling her own desire beginning to rise again, she slid her remaining free hand down between her legs and slowly began rubbing circles around her own sex. Moaning from the feeling, she couldn't help but smirk at the reaction it had to her soon to be mate. He had his head thrown back and had sank his hands into her hair and was fisting parts of it, but being mindful to not pull too hard.

Increasing her tempo, she started taking more of his cock into her mouth while at the same time increased the speed of her fingers massaging her throbbing clit. Suppressing her gag reflex, she took the remainder of his cock into her mouth all the way up to his pelvis and softly hummed.

"Orihime... I... I... I'm going to..."

Not letting him finish, she drew back up his cock a bit before going all the way back down to his pelvis again. Drool was starting to slip out of her mouth as she did this, but she paid no heed and started bobbing her head more feverishly. At the same time, she was more desperately stroking herself as she felt her own release coming on. All at once, the quarter demon cried out as he came in her mouth, shooting his seed down the back of her throat. Not letting it go to waste, she swallowed all of it and cleaned off the remainder before licking her lips clean.

Within a few seconds of him going her own orgasm came to fruition, making her lose herself in a blinding swirl for just a moment. Coming down, she took his member out of his mouth and lightly panted.

Still weak from his orgasm and feeling the effects of it on his body, Ichigo managed to stabilize himself and reached down and pulled the nearly limp demoness up into his arms. Carrying her bridal style, he laid her onto the bed, only to let out a hiss when he felt her one hand latch onto his member and began pumping him. Recovering quickly, he found himself hard in nearly record time. When he was more than ready, she let go and laid back onto her back.

Lining their bodies up so that he was in line with her entrance, he drew her butt up onto his knees and laid his cock on top of her. Looking down at her, he silently threw her a look of asking for permission to enter into her.

She took less than a moment to nod her head yes, prompting him to place the tip of himself at her entrance. Gently as possible, he slowly started sliding into her pliant body. He immediately found her very wet, as well as her walls very tight. Gradually as he slid in, her walls gave way, giving him plenty of room, but remaining tight that he felt every bit of her.

At the same time, the demoness could feel every inch of his cock entering into her. She knew he was stretching her out, but she didn't mind. To her, it felt just right. His size wasn't causing any discomfort, yet was just the right size to accommodate her smaller core.

In all the way at last, the quarter demon remained still for several moments. During this time, he felt his member being lightly squeezed by the walls of the demoness, most simple spasms.

"_This feels like it completes me._" both thought at the same time.

Suddenly feeling the demoness wrap her legs around his hips, he looked down to find her nod her head and felt her test out their joining by rolling her hips. Convinced she was fine and wasn't in pain, Ichigo began to withdraw himself, only stopping halfway before pushing back into her agonizingly slow. Continuing this for a few minutes, he could see the frustration starting to build in the face of his soon to be mate.

"Ichigo, please. Don't tease me." Orihime whined.

Reaching down and padding her nub, Ichigo smugly asked "What's wrong?"

Gritting her teeth, the demoness whimpered out "I need more. Please, harder."

Not wanting to disappoint, the quarter demon immediately delivered by picking up his pace. He soon found her sweet spot, earning him a loud moan instantly. Aiming for the same spot, he started moving faster and faster, causing the demoness only to moan even louder. Her moans were soon became short and ragged while she squeezed her eyes shut.

Deciding to kick things up another notch, he sped up even more. At the same time, he licked his fingers and found her clit. Rubbing in a circular manner, he drew out much louder moans. During all this, he felt himself starting to be squeezed gently more and more by her walls. The friction continued to build, making him let out a loud groan himself.

Several deep thrusts later, the demoness screamed out in ecstasy as she came harder than she had her entire life. The force of her orgasm almost made her black out, but she clung on and managed to ride out the intensity of it. Simultaneously, the quarter demon let out a loud yelp as he came deep within her, his seed shooting out and coating her womb. A few moments passed before at long last the quarter demon rolled off of her and onto his back.

_**End of lemon**_

Both panted heavily as they laid side by side before Ichigo slowly began licking the side of Orihime's neck. She took the hint and turned her head to the side, giving him access to the juncture between her neck and shoulder. Repeatedly licking it several times, he felt his fangs starting to lengthen a bit. They weren't as long as a hanyou's or a full demon's, but they were long enough for him to complete the ceremony.

Licking a few more times, he suddenly sank his fangs into her neck, drawing blood instantly from the procedure. The demoness shuttered slightly, but showed no other signs of movement. Withdrawing his fangs after a few seconds, he lapped up the blood that welled out from the wound and sealed them shut with his saliva.

Laying onto his back, he glanced over at the demoness, who shared his vision. In a worn out voice, he softly said "I want you to mark me."

"Ichigo..."

"I lost one mate and barely managed to move on. With you, Orihime, if anything happened to you, I want to be with you. Not just in life, but in death too. Please, do this for me, Orihime."

Touched by his words, but at the same time feeling a touch of sadness in her heart, she weakly nodded her head. At this, he turned his head to side, giving her access to his own area that she would make her mark on. Tenderly, she licked the area a few times, her fangs responding to the action. Biting down and marking the quarter demon, she soon retracted her fangs and sealed his would with her own saliva. The pair's auras instantly flared to life, engulfing both as they mixed together, binding one another. Slowly, their auras dispersed, leaving them panting slightly in a loving embrace and each staring the other in the face.

"I love you, Orihime Inoue."

"And I love you, Ichigo Kurosaki."

000

000

Sitting in front of the desk that belonged to the Lord of the West was a young human man in his twenties. His dark brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail that trailed down to just below his shoulder blades. Chocolate brown eyes revealed no worry, though deep in his mind he was. The clothing he wore was a dark blue vest with a light blue kosode underneath it, dark blue pants, and a yellow obi that held the three together.

Hearing the shoji screen door open, he stood and turned to find the Lord of the West entering into the room. Bowing deeply, he remained that way for several moments.

"Hn."

Receiving his signal to straighten up, the young man respectfully said "Lord Sesshomaru."

"Lord Kohaku."

Moving behind his desk, the dog demon motioned for the young human to do the same as he had. Watching the lord of the Slayer's Village take his seat, the demon lord felt a touch of pride as he remembered how far the young man before him had come.

"Kohaku, this Sesshomaru has new orders for you."

Nodding his head and listening intently, Kohaku felt a bit of nervousness well up within him, but years of training his emotions helped him keep it tamped down. Since the opening of the war, his resurrected village had provided support to the Western Lands, mostly in escorting prisoners of war or aiding the wounded back to safer locations so their wounds could be appropriately tended to. The new village had suffered casualties, but they made the enemy pay for each one that was brought down.

As well, his wife had been frequently remaining at the Western Stronghold for her own protection from attacks. He had married Rin after courting her for two years, naturally after receiving Sesshomaru's blessing on the matter. Since then, he had resurrected his old village, and with much help from his sister and brother-in-law, along with a disgruntled Inuyasha, he had managed to put together a fine new group of demon slayers.

There were a mixture of people within the village, whose population saw not only humans living there, but demons, hanyous, and anywhere in between. With the newly fashioned soldiers to defend the home, they had begun carrying out missions right before the war on extermination of demons that were causing trouble.

When Rin had let him know she was pregnant, he had immediately sent her to the Western Stronghold to keep her safe. Kohaku had frequently visited, but he knew the distance between them was very hard on not only himself, but Rin and their son. Still, he was unsure if the village would ever be safe from attack, thus causing him to only keep her away longer and longer.

"Kohaku, you will be in charge of protecting the Western Stronghold while this Sesshomaru is away on mission. This Sesshomaru will not return for over a month, if not two. You will have full say in orders for the guard here."

Woken from his thoughts and a bit flabbergasted from the declaration, the young human pensively asked "My lord, are you sure? Would not one of your generals be far more qualified than me? I should be out helping escort prisoners or the wounded."

Staring the young man straight into the eye, the demon evenly replied "This Sesshomaru only gives tasks to those he is confident in and trusts. You are by far the most trusted of those remaining in the Western Lands. Not only that, but this Sesshomaru knows that you will protect this stronghold with your very life due that your wife and child are here."

Pondering on the words as his eyes focused on his hands that were situated within his lap, Kohaku suddenly realized the hidden significance of the dog demon's words. "_He trusts and believes in me. Sesshomaru would never outright say it like this unless he truly wanted me to remain here and protect that which is his._"

Turning his gaze back to the dog demon and meeting the icy amber eyes with his own chocolate colored ones, Kohaku smoothly said "I would be honored to protect your home, Lord Sesshomaru."

"Hn. The orders will be issued out to all guards and troops here by morning. This Sesshomaru will be leaving in the morning as well."

Nodding his head, the young man was told "That is all."

Bowing slightly, Kohaku stood and started to move towards the door when he heard the dog demon say "You are to take the remainder of the day off and spend it with Rin and your son. That is an order."

Flashing a smile at the dog demon, the slayer bowed once more, saying "Thank you, Lord Sesshomaru."

000

000

Staring one another down as they were panting heavily, Orihime and Yoshe sized one another's defenses up. Finding no opening, the ice demoness kindly smiled for a moment and straightened her body out.

"Let's call it a day."

Visibly relaxing a bit, the bobcat mage replied "Okay, Lady Yoshe."

Irked by the annoying formality of the mage, Yoshe raised her left arm up and pointed her index and middle fingers pressed together at the mage. In a cold tone, she said "Hadō 4: Byakurai!"

Silently cursing herself for forgetting again, the mage was quick to raise her arms up before herself with both palms turned out towards the incoming bolt of lightning that had been shot from the ice demoness's fingers. Dredging up the last vestiges of her own demonic energy, she began pouring the power into her hands and had to bite down on her lip to keep from yelping at the energy flowing into her already sore hands.

"Bakudō 39: Enkosen!"

Watching a spinning golden energy shield flare to life in front of the bobcat demoness, the ice demoness saw her attack smash into it, causing a small explosion. In all actuality, the power she had used was pushing her limits, but the sheer irritation of having formality used on her had drove her to find the power within her body to show she meant what she had said to the demoness earlier about dropping formality.

Slowly, the smoke from the explosion cleared away, revealing a worn out mage who had sank down onto her knees from exhaustion. Her chest heaved in a desperate attempt to pull more oxygen into her body.

Inhaling deeply and sliding her eyes shut as her body calmed itself, Yoshe slowly opened her icy blue eyes to stare at the other demoness. "For the last time, do not use formalities when we are alone, Orihime. Next time I will not hold back."

Knowing the threat was empty due that both had exhausted their powers, Orihime meekly nodded her head and replied "Of course. My apologies."

"Good." the ice demoness stated as she reversed the transformation of her zanpakutō back to it's normal sword state. Sheathing the blade, she evenly said "That was quite the workout."

On her feet again, the bobcat mage sheathed her own sword before shakily saying "Yes, it was quite a fight."

Smiling brightly at her, Yoshe clucked her tongue and casually said "You have really improved the last few sessions. Is that because you mated Ichigo and no longer are afraid to go all out?"

Reaching up to her neck and rubbing the mating mark unconsciously, the bobcat demoness softly replied "I suppose. It's like my mind is much clearer than it once was, thus allowing me to put more effort into fighting."

"I understand what you mean." Yoshe remarked. "Before I mated Sesshomaru, I was nervous always. I always doubted the power I had, like I was unsure of it and if I could ever be able to control it. However, Sesshomaru encouraged me to be stronger. He didn't care that I wasn't the strongest demoness in the Western Lands. He only saw me and what strength I had. That alone made me feel stronger and more confident in myself. I wouldn't be who I am today if not for him."

Nodding in understanding, Orihime stretched her sore body and cringed lightly when she felt a few muscles groan in protest. Letting out a soft sigh, she asked "What should we do now?"

Pondering on the question only for a few moments, the ice demoness smiled and said "I think we should spend the remainder of the day with our mates. After all, tomorrow we set out to end this war and won't have much time for such pleasantries."

"Yeah, you're right. I guess I'll go get cleaned up first and then seek out Ichigo."

Acknowledging the comment with a nod, the ice demoness warmly smiled and said "I think I'll try and spend as much time with Sesshomaru and Yumi. I have no doubt she'll be irritated by our absence, but she will survive. She has her aunt and friends to keep her company."

A moment of silence prompted the two to begin the trek back to the stronghold, each only smiling at the thoughts of the remainder of the day. Behind them, they left a training ground in shambles, with ice debris covering the field and numerous large holes filling in the area, as well as several holes in trees. Just as they were out of sight, a few trees found their way to the ground with a colossal crash.

000

000

Laying on his side with his arms wrapped protectively around Lilly and pulling her flush up against his body, Iya nuzzled down into her neck and squeezed his muddy brown eyes shut as he inhaled her sweet raspberry scent. Her normally sweet scent was accented even more due to the body lotion she had used on herself earlier in the day. Making a mental note to thank Kagome for bringing it from her time, he let out a small contented sigh.

Hearing her mate yawn, Lilly sleepily asked "Are you scared?"

"I would be lying to say I don't have some doubts about the upcoming missions."

Clinging to his arms with her own, the neko whispered "I'm scared too. It's still hard for me to comprehend why Yoshe and I will be fighting the Lord of the East. And you have to do battle with the Lord of the South."

Inwardly cringing at the mere mention of what was expected of not only his own mate, but the mate of his brother, made the dog hanyou feel a touch of anger towards his brother. Sensing the change in her mate's scent, she rolled over to look him in the face.

"We will be fine. Don't spend your time worrying about Yoshe and me. We are capable fighters and will bring down the Lord of the East. You don't need to be thinking about us while you're fighting, so put it out of your mind."

"I know." he muttered. "Both Yoshe and you are the mates of two of the heirs of the West. Each of you are strong, and I have no doubt you will prove that when the two of you combat the Lord of the East. Still, I cannot help but worry about you. You are my mate after all. Even if you remained here at the stronghold, I'd be thinking about you."

Sweetly smiling at the male hanyou and snuggling into his chest, the neko softly said "It's nice to know I'm so close to your heart."

Looking up to find a confused look on her mate's face, she smiled and added "Iya, you mustn't worry about me. I can protect myself. Yoshe and I have already decided that no matter what happens in this battle, we will return to both Sesshomaru and you. It's a promise we made so that we know that we will come back."

Pulling his mate protectively closer, he slid his eyes shut and inhaled the scents around the room. The scent of where they had sex earlier was still hanging in the air, along with the overwhelming scent of the lotion the neko had put on.

Suddenly feeling his mate's tail wrap around his hips, he looked down to find her staring up at him with lust filled emerald eyes. In a soft purr, she whispered "I know what will take you mind off of the upcoming battles."

**Thanks everyone for reading the chapter. Now, if you could do me a kind favor and review to let me know what you think of the chapter, I'd appreciate it. Till next time!**


	12. Chapter 12: Past Mistakes, Pt 1

**Hi everybody! (/Hears everyone say "Hey Doctor Nick!"\) Ok, maybe I've watched too much of the Simpsons. Not too much new in my life. My mate and I are house shopping again, though bad news has accompanied that. The Air Force has decided to turn off the product that the company I work for created for them in May. This isn't all bad, seeing how my office has been off the AF contract since last June and been doing work for the commercial side instead. We also have in the works a contract with Nasa, so perhaps things will work out and I won't have to find work. I pray I won't have to find work, to say the least. Not looking forward to such a prospect, at all. However, our company doesn't seem that worried about it, plus many think this is idiotic of the AF to make such a decision. That is word from within the AF itself btw, lol.**

**Writing wise, things are coming together. I'm getting stuff done, but I have so many other projects to work on also. Ugh, too many ideas in my head! I need a fleet of ghost writers, lol.**

**Thank you to auronsword for the review last time. I really appreciated it. And to any who have been reading but have yet to review, I do encourage you to do so. Honestly, any feedback, good or bad, is helpful. I know, it sounds like I'm begging for recognition or praise or whatever, but I'm not. I'm just looking to see if what I've put out so far is good, bad, etc. It helps in the development of writers. I've been writing for six or seven years and I still am unsure on my skill level of writing, yet I keep going. Anyways, it's up to you all to let me know what you think. If you don't want to, whatever I suppose.**

**Well, that's it for me this round. Hope everyone likes this chapter. Until next time! Enjoy!**

**Meanings for certain words:**

_**Nake = Sing**_

_**Hojiku-Zai =**__** Flesh-mending Drug**_

**Chapter 12**

Ears twitching while his eyes ran over the sight of the sea of men setting up the camps for the night, Iya couldn't help but feel a sense of hope. Looking out at the ocean, he saw the ships that had ferried the soldiers were ever so slowly vanishing on the horizon.

"_One way or another, the war ends soon._"

"It was quite a ride, eh?"

Eyes sliding over to his right until Ichigo came into view, the hanyou remarked "It was. I'm just thankful that this much of my plan has gone off without a hitch."

Nodding his head, the quarter demon smirked, saying "We've got a ways to go, but I'm already getting the feeling we're closing in on the end."

"Yeah. Let's only hope that our luck holds out. We still have a week to march into the capitals of the two lands."

"It'll work." Ichigo cockily remarked.

000

000

Walking quietly along with only the sound of his wooden geta striking the ground, Kisuke Urahara glanced at the surrounding buildings and frowned. The village he had entered into had numerous metallurgy shops all around. There were also several large buildings that seemed to contain several demons and humans he deduced due to the scents pouring out of them. The scent of blood and death seemed to cling to the air, making him curl up his nose in disgust.

"_You've been rather busy, Mayuri. I see your perversion has yet to be sated._"

Approaching the largest building within the village, he spotted plumes of smoke pouring out of several tops of it. Deciding this was the right place to begin his search, the sword smith wordlessly walked towards the entrance, only to find someone walking out with a evil smirk on their face.

"Ah, Kisuke Urahara, my former master, what a surprise to find you here."

Studying the man that had spoken to him with a touch of insanity in his voice, the sword smith saw that he had blue hair that was shaped into what looked like horns that sloped down from the top of his head and framed his face, a black cross demonic marking that ran down his forehead to his chin and over his eyes but had sickly white skin surrounding it, and a golden attachment that framed the outside of his face and covered both of his ears with rounded points, as well as a long goatee. His teeth were shown as he cruelly smirked, revealing they were yellow. Golden eyes stared at him, seemingly regarding him. On his right hand's middle finger, he had a single long purple finger nail that was three inches long. The man's clothing consisted of a purple scarf around his neck, followed by a white outer kimono top that reached down to his calves in length. Under the kimono was a black top and pants, tied together by a white obi that had a sword hanging precariously between his legs and over his groin. The sword itself had a pink hilt and sheath, with a golden guard that was oddly shaped and had four golden needles sticking out from the very top of the pommel where bandages wrapped it. Jutting out from the guard was a piece of bandage wrapped metal that gave it an even stranger look.

Looking at the man for several long moments, Kisuke slowly said "I see you've changed your looks since the last time I saw you, my former apprentice, Mayuri Kurotsuchi."

"A scientist must always be up to the challenge of changing one's self for further development. You taught me that important lesson, Kisuke Urahara."

Moving towards the quiet blonde haired sword smith, the blue haired demon added "I heard you had become even more recluse after I left."

Meeting the golden eyed gaze with his own light blue eyes, Kisuke retorted "What you did caused quite a stir and made many of my customers question my own methods. Your depraved methods frightened quite a few people. Tell me, when did you pick up the knowledge to finish creating a zanpakutō?"

"It was some time after I was thrown out by you. You had to have known that as your apprentice, I would find the answer on my own. But I'm guessing you figured probably not, seeing how you are the only one in Japan that created zanpakutōs for many years."

"I won't lie, it had come to mind that you'd never learn what you were missing." Kisuke confessed. "When I taught you how to create a zanpakutō, I always held back just enough information so that if something ever happened, you wouldn't run off with my secrets. Perhaps you learned enough to figure it out on your own."

Grinning wildly as he showed his yellow teeth, the blue haired demon asked "Is it that depressing to you that I figured something out that you took years to do so?"

"Not at all." the blonde haired sword smith answered. Tipping his hat down to cover his eyes completely with his hat, he murmured "I never imagined you would do something so perverse with what I taught you. My teachings were to better Japan, not help aid in it's destruction."

"But I am aiding, sensei. The zanpakutōs I provide the Southern and Eastern Lands are tipping the scales in their favor and giving them just the edge they need."

"Is that to be said the same for The Thirteen?" Kisuke demanded in a tone that was slightly above his calm voice.

Still grinning, Mayuri smugly retorted "They were paying customers. How could I not make swords for those that paid me to do so."

"That's not the point. You committed the taboo when you created the zanpakutō known as Senbonzakura for not only Byakuya Kuchiki, but his slave Kaia. Cloning a zanpakutō's spirit is like ripping the original apart."

Bursting out loud with boisterous laughter, the blue haired demon smoothly replied "You are only mad that I developed a technique to do so. Your past failures held you back from ever attempting said taboo again."

Raising his head up to reveal hardened light blue eyes, Kisuke coldly said "My failures were my own, but for my former apprentice to commit them is unforgivable. You have committed many taboos since leaving my tutelage."

"What of it, sensei? Have you come to tell me how bad a boy I am?"

Bringing his cane before himself and drawing it's hidden sword out of it, the sword smith threw the empty shaft of wood to the ground and smoothly said "No, I have not come to tell you. When I caught you performing that taboo all those years ago, I couldn't bring myself to deal with it. But your new perversions have made me realize you will never learn. That's why I'm here to correct my mistake and bury you in the past."

Taking hold of the hilt of his own blade, the blue haired demon slowly drew the sword out of it's sheath and soon brought it before himself. His facial expression never changed.

"Can you kill your own former student, sensei? Tell me, do you think of me as the weak child you found all those years ago still yet?"

Swinging his sword out to his side, Kisuke charged forward in a blur and lashed out with his sword as his answer. The steel sword was met by Mayuri's sword with sparks flaring out from the impact. Ringing steel filled the air before a grinding sound of the blades took over.

Pushing off, Mayuri fiercely declared "Don't think that I'm that weakling child. Since leaving you, I have come of age and managed to accomplish much."

Rushing his opponent with his sword to his right side and ready to attack, the sword smith launched several thrusts at the white and black faced demon before settling into a series of high speed slashes. Each of his attacks were met by his former apprentice, who either parried or countered.

Separating, the two suddenly charged each other with their blades poise to kill the other. Swords clashing with fierce intensity, the two took swipes at one another. Neither managed to land an attack on the other and instead were forced to disengage.

"Not bad, Mayuri." Kisuke complimented with a smile. "Your sword skills have improved, but what about your Kidō?"

Bringing his blade before himself so that the broad side was pointed at the blue haired demon and bracing it with his left hand, the sword smith smoothly called out "Hadō 32: Ōkasen."

Spreading out across the sword from the pommel to the tip of the blade was a bright yellow flare of demonic energy. Flying forth in a flash was a beam of yellow energy as wide as the sword's entire length.

"What a waste of my time. Bakudō 39: Enkosen."

Coming to the defense of the blue haired demon immediately was a spinning round barrier of orange demonic energy. The barrier easily held back the force of the yellow beam of energy until at last it faded away into nothingness.

Holding his sword out in front of his body, the blue haired demon released hold of it. Instead of dropping to the ground it levitated before him as he lightly hit the hilt of it, causing it to begin spinning rapidly. Suddenly grabbing the hilt and pulling it directly in front of himself with the blade pointing straight downwards, he smirked as demonic energy seemed to build up around his body.

"Hadō 58: Tenran."

Blasting away from the blade in a flash was a miniature tornado with the base being only as wide as a four feet. As it sailed towards the sword smith, it widened until it was nearly twenty feet in diameter and had tremendous force behind it.

Avoiding the tornado easily and reappearing directly behind his opponent with a distance of ten feet, the sword smith smirked as golden energy formed in his left hand. Drawing a visible yellow energy triangle in front of himself, he coolly said " Bakudō 30: Shitotsu Sansen."

Each of the points of the triangle flared brighter as fangs formed in each. Launching without warning, they shot towards the blue haired demon, only to miss him at the last moment and embed into a nearby hut instead.

"Using an attack from behind, clever Kisuke. Let's see what you do with this. Hadō 73: Sōren Sōkatsui."

Flaring forth in a swirl of light blue demonic energy was a beam of highly concentrated demonic energy. It shot straight for the sword smith, intent clearly meant to kill.

Facing down the oncoming attack, Kisuke pulled his hat down slightly and said "Not much challenge here. Bakudō 81: Danku."

Appearing directly in front of him instantly was a translucent rectangular barrier. The beam of energy slammed harmlessly into barrier, which seemed to not give an inch from the impact. A moment passed before the beam at last petered out and faded away into nothingness.

"My turn again." Kisuke playfully stated as he raised his head up. "Hadō 63: **Raikōhō."**

**Taking off in a flash was a beam of highly concentrated yellow demonic energy. Seeing the incoming attack, Mayuri easily evaded and leapt several feet away to stare down his opponent.**

**"So, are we done with these little games, sensei?"**

Bringing his blade before himself, the sword smith smoothly replied "I wasn't really playing, but if you say so."

Smirking widely, Mayuri lifted his blade up so that the tip was pointed at the ground. All at once, his sickly looking pink demonic aura flared to life around his body. "Claw out Ashisogi Jizō."

Slowly, purple wispy smoke poured out from around the sword. Two spikes were added onto the pommel, giving it six altogether. The spikes then transformed into golden leaf shapes. At the same time, the guard morphed into a golden baby face with a set of small hands held together, as if praying. The eyes of the baby were shut while purple hazy smoke poured out of it's lips. Extending out from it's head was a deformed trident, with two shorter prongs that were curved and serpent like. Each prong measured about two feet in length. The middle blade had one minor bend in it before reaching out to a length of four feet.

Turning the blade up and holding it out away from his body, which allowed more purple mist to spew into the air, Mayuri said with a touch of excitement in his voice "I can't wait to dissect you and find out all the secrets your body has. That is of course after I run all sorts of experiments on you and extract all the information you have concerning creation of zanpakutōs and so on. Such tedious work."

Earning himself a studying gaze from the sword smith, the blue haired demon grunted out "Are you going to release your zanpakutō or not, sensei? Normally I would love to take my time, but I am a very busy man nowadays."

"Impatient as ever I see." Kisuke mirthfully commented. Raising his zanpakutō up in front of himself horizontally, his face took on a serious expression as he coldly added "You should know by now that Benihime is not one to be trifled with. She's never liked you from the get go, so I'd be weary of challenging me into releasing her fury upon you."

Hiding his eyes beneath the shadow of his hat, the sword smith smoothly said "Awaken Benihime."

Releasing a crimson colored aura instantly, the sword started it's transformation, with the blade becoming about three to four feet in length and widened out a bit. The blade retained it's black and silver coloring, however a golden U-shaped guard with a flower pattern imprinted into it formed where the pommel once ended into the cane's handle. Tied just beneath the guard was a red string that was wrapped around the hilt three times and had a folded paper decoration hanging from the other side. Black cloth was wrapped around the pommel until it came to a slanted golden piece that was no more than three inches in length and had a crimson tassel hanging from it. The tip of the blade was slanted like a razor instead of a normal taper off point.

Smirking at the sword smith, Mayuri smugly called out "Ah yes, your Crimson Princess, Benihime. I know that blade well, sensei."

"Do you?" Kisuke challenged coldly. "I only showed you a few of Benihime's tricks when you were my apprentice. You may know about a few of her lower level abilities, but I have to wonder if you can guess the full extent of her power."

Pointing his blade at the sword smith, the blue haired demon heatedly retorted "That might be true, but you know nothing about my Ashisogi Jizō."

Lightly chuckling, the sword smith cockily remarked "You mean other than the fact that it is spewing poison out from it's lips?"

Faltering at the words spoken, the blue haired demon was about to reply when the sword smith smoothly said "It was easy enough to figure out. Just looking at that purple smoke, I knew it had to be poison. You did love to play with it whenever you served under me."

"Enough talk though. It's time to do what I came here to do." Kisuke stated as he revealed cold, unreadable light blue eyes.

Rushing forward with only the sound of his geta slapping the ground, the sword smith leapt several feet into the air and came crashing down with his sword extended out. The blue haired demon quickly countered and parried the attack, though the force of the impact made him sink a few inches into the ground.

Pushing off and circling around his opponent, the sword smith lashed out from the blind side of his former apprentice. Finding his blade blocked, he smiled at the fact that his opponent had anticipated the attack, but not what was coming next. Swinging around with a lightning quick roundhouse kick, he slammed his geta wearing foot into the blue haired demon's side, sending him skidding backwards from the force of the blow.

Moving towards his former apprentice at a hurried pace, the sword smith swung his blade out at the demon, only to have it dodged completely. Not finished, he drew the blade before himself and yelled out "Nake, Benihime!"

Launching from the swinging blade, a flare of crimson energy struck out at the blue haired demon while making a whistling sound. At the last moment, he evaded the attack and rolled away.

"Nake!"

Eyes widening as another blast of crimson energy was launched, Mayuri quickly flashed away as the larger blast struck where he had been only a few seconds before. He didn't have time to rest though as the sword smith charged him and slashed out at him with several successive attacks. Doing his best to dodge or parry the attacks, he felt his balance thrown off.

Deciding he had the advantage, Kisuke pressed the attack and launched into a series of high speed slashes and stabs, each aiming for vital areas. Each thrust and slash was somehow unable to hit the main body of the blue haired demon, who instead had his white outer kimono struck.

Vanishing suddenly, the blue haired demon reappeared behind the sword smith and took to the offensive. He let out short loud yells as he rapidly fired off numerous slashes and thrusts.

Watching carefully, Kisuke was suddenly caught off guard when he felt a touch of nostalgia. A memory of teaching the very same man came to mind, making him feel his mind reeling.

"_How did it come to this? I found him and raised him, yet this is how he turned out._"

Finding himself caught up in a memory he had locked away long ago, he allowed his subconscious show him what he had forgotten.

000

000

Silently walking along and splashing water that resided within the road, Kisuke pulled his black cloak closer against his body for warmth. The winter rains had come earlier than expected while he was out on a trip to visit with a client about forging a sword for them.

"_At least I'm not far from home. I think before I go back I'll stop at that tea house that's along the way. Some warm tea would be nice to drink, and they have the best dango around. I'll have to make it more of a habit to venture out. Staying cooped up like I always do is such a bother, but then again, I have plenty to do._"

Gazing ahead at the hill that hid the location of the desired destination, the sword smith picked his pace up. Nearing the hill, he spotted at the foot of it a small child in gray rags. The child had bleached white skin with a set of black demonic markings in the form of a cross on his face, and a mop of matted blue hair on his head. His gray clothing was full of holes, along with several tears on the sleeves. The child was visibly thin, if not showing signs of starvation.

Puzzled by the fact the child was out in the freezing rain, let alone sitting by himself, the sword smith approached cautiously. Reaching the child, he looked down only to be met by a broken set of amber eyes. Taken back by this instantly, he couldn't help but feel pity for the child.

"Excuse me young man, but why are you sitting here in the rain alone?"

Weakly, the boy quietly said "I have nowhere to go. To sit here is just as fine as it would be anywhere else."

Baffled by the child's words, Kisuke asked "Why are you not indoors?"

"I have no home..."

The sad reality of the child's plight immediately sank in. Sadly smiling at the child, the sword smith kindly asked "How about we go get something warm to eat and drink? That would be better than sitting here in the rain."

Breaking his gaze from the sword smith, the child replied "I have no money."

"Who said you were buying?" Kisuke posed the question with a warm smile. Finding the child was looking up at him with surprise in his eyes, the sword smith offered his hand, saying "I can't very well leave a child out here in the rain. Come on, let's get out of this rain."

Seemingly pondering on the words spoken to him for a minute, the child at last nodded his head meekly and accepted the hand offered to him. Hauled to his feet, he trembled a bit for a moment before glancing up at the man who had helped him up.

Feeling the gaze pointed at himself, the sword smith allowed a small smile to escape. "Shall we?"

Receiving a nod, he led the way with the child in tow. The two soon arrived at the tea house and were warmly greeted by a young human woman in her early twenties. She had lovely brown hair pulled to the side in a ponytail and soft violet eyes. Her yukata was a pale blue and had several wildflowers embroidered into it and a red obi sash with a large bow on the back.

Both the boy and sword smith took a seat, with the boy very hesitant. Noticing this, Kisuke spoke up and said "You can order whatever you want, and as much of it as you'd like. I don't mind at all."

Eyes lighting up a bit, the boy softly asked "Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm very sure."

Smiling for the first time, the boy nodded his head. The young woman soon came to them with two cups and a kettle of tea. After pouring each a cup of green tea, she set the kettle aside and smiled at both.

"What would you two like to eat?" she politely asked.

Noting the boy was thinking for a moment, Kisuke smoothly said "I'll have an order of dango."

Nodding her head, the young woman turned her head to the boy and sweetly smiled. "How about you, young man?"

At last, the boy spoke up and asked "Do you have miso soup?"

"We do indeed."

Brightening a bit, he quietly replied "I'd like a bowl, please."

Acknowledging him with a nod, the young woman said "Alright then, I'll get your orders up in a hurry. By the way, my name is Hikari. If you need anything, yell."

The sword smith nodded his head, prompting Hikari to be on her way. A few minutes passed by and neither of the two said anything. At last tired of being quiet, the sword smith spoke up.

"Tell me, what is your name?"

Softly, the child responded shortly with "Mayuri Kurotsuchi."

"My name is Kisuke Urahara. It's a pleasure to meet you, Mayuri."

An uncomfortable silence slowly filled the air until at last the sword smith broke it. "Mayrui, are your parents still alive?"

Becoming downtrodden instantly, the boy had tears starting to fill his eyes as the sword smith tried to quickly right the situation.

"I didn't mean to be nosy. I'm sorry, you don't have to talk about it."

Slowly shaking his head, the boy weakly said "It's alright. My father died before I was born, so I never knew him. The woman that gave birth to me and raised me, my mother, she died just last month. Ever since then, I've been on my own."

Feeling a pang of sadness within his heart over the words of the boy, the sword smith couldn't help but relate to the child's words. Kindly smiling, he warmly asked "Tell me, Mayuri, would you like to come live with me?"

"Huh?"

"I asked if you would like to come live with me. You see, I understand the loneliness you are suffering through. I lost both of my parents when I was young also and had to take care of myself for many years. To hear such a thing happened to yet another child is sad and I understand how you feel. That is why I want to help you. I live alone and am rather lonely myself, much like how you are. If you want to, you can come live with me. We can ease each other's loneliness."

Unsure of what to say, the boy's thoughts were interrupted as Hikari brought their meals to the table. She soon left the two behind, but neither ate a bite.

"I don't want to be a burden to ..."

Waving the boy off, Kisuke smiled once again and said "You're not a burden. If you wish to come live with me, it is your choice and yours alone. I won't force you."

Digesting the sword smith's words, Mayuri sat silent for several moments until he looked up and weakly smiled, saying "I want to go with you."

Clapping his hands together and smiling, the sword smith replied "Then it's settled. You will return home with me. Now let's eat."

At that, the pair began eating and started a new beginning with one another.

000

000

"_Bringing Mayuri home with me seemed to lighten my heart and help me connect with people once again. True, I had friends, but I never truly connected with them. Mayuri was the first person I felt a true connection to._"

Dodging an incoming slash aimed for his head, Kisuke added "_Not long after that, I discovered that Mayuri was gifted with analysis of problems. After having him live there only a few years, I decided to make him my apprentice. I thought I had finally found someone that would succeed me one day, that would take over what I did and make swords to protect people._"

"_I was wrong... The more I taught him, the more I discovered the darker side of his soul. He questioned and even challenged the things that I told him were taboo. I could always reason with him to a certain point until I finally had to use the line 'I am your master and have raised you' to make him drop it. Even then, he seemed disgruntled about it. I knew there was darkness within him, that he would one day commit the acts I forbid him from doing, but I had hope I could change that._"

Taking a glance into the amber eyes filled with rage and dodging his opponent's sword, the sword smith murmured "_And yet again, I was wrong. It all went down twenty years after I took him in that it all went awry._"

000

000

Approaching the darkened hut he called home with silent, soft steps, Kisuke frowned when he noticed light coming from his workshop that was some distance away from the hut.

"_Is Mayuri still up at this hour? True, I wasn't supposed to be home for another two days, but he should know to get his sleep._"

Stilling suddenly when he caught a whiff of the air, he found it saturated with the scent of blood and death. Discerning that none of it was his apprentice's, but still concerned, he moved towards the workshop determined to find out what was going on.

Entering into the workshop through the sliding shoji door, the sword smith's eyes widened in shock as he wordlessly gasped at the sight of what was in the floor. Several dead bodies littered the workshop floor, their corpses leaking blood onto the wooden floors and soaking into it. The stench of death and blood nearly made the sword smith throw up instantly, but he forced the bile back down his throat.

Not saying a word as he silently moved towards the back of the workshop to where the light was pouring out from under a door, the sword smith came to a halt just outside the door and took a deep breath. The source of the foul scents plaguing the workshop were behind the door. After a moment of hesitating, Kisuke at last pulled the door open to discover his apprentice with his back to him and seemingly working on something.

Turning around to greet the sword smith, Mayuri nonchalantly said "I see you are home early, sensei. I apologize for the mess. It will be cleaned up in the morning. I simply lost track of time while working on this project. You understand, I'm sure."

Remaining silent but keeping a close eye on his apprentice, Kisuke watched as his apprentice picked up something off of the worktable he had been focusing on.

"My efforts were for not though. I have created a blade of magnificent power. To create it, I sealed fifty human and fifty demon souls. Those souls are all very powerful souls, each having some kind of anger, hatred, or fear etched deeply into them. That is what gives this sword it's power."

Revealing the sword he spoke of, the blue haired demon scratched his forehead, saying "I have yet to figure out a name for this sword, but I think it doesn't really matter. This is but a prototype for future swords."

Once more grinning, Mayuri asked "Are you proud, sensei? I completed something that you had deemed impossible."

"Tell me Mayuri, where did you get my notes on this matter?" Kisuke questioned in a low tone as he hid his eyes beneath the shadows of his bangs.

In a slightly sheepish tone, the demon replied "I found it in your archives, under research. There are many things within that section, mostly detailing the great works you began, only to stop midway for some reason or another."

"I see." was the response of the sword smith. "Mayuri, you have one hour to pack up your things and leave."

Unsure of the words spoken to him, the blue haired demon slowly asked "Master, what are you talking about? Are we going somewhere?"

"I am no longer your master."

"I don't understand, sensei."

In a hollow tone, the sword smith lowly said "You have disobeyed my orders. I told you never to perform one of the taboos."

"But I was only showing that your work was not a failure, master. All I did, I did for you. I just wanted you to be ..."

Raising his head up and flashing angry light blue eyes, Kisuke snapped out "Bakudō 61: Rikujōkōrō!"

Six blades of light energy formed immediately around the blue haired demon and smashed into him from all sides. He struggled to free himself but quickly found the blades were far too strong for him to break free from.

"What you have done can never be forgiven!" Kisuke seethed. "I told you never to use any of my research from what was labeled as failures. They were marked failures for a reason! I was young and did not pay any heed to the consequences when I created those records. Those failures are my sins. I wanted to keep you from them, but you chose instead to perform them, thus defying my will."

Taking in a deep breath and clenching his hands into tight fists until his short claws cut into the palms of his skin and drew blood, the sword smith lowly added "I committed many fatal sins long ago and never wanted them repeated. But you, you have no remorse for what you did. The proof is in your right hand. You killed fifty humans and demons just to perform this depraved experiment so you would look better in my eyes. That is not the way I taught you."

Staring into frightened amber eyes with his own light blue ones, Kisuke menacingly said "I will let you live, but from hence forth, you are no longer my apprentice and I am not your master. You will now leave and never return. If you do, I will not be so forgiving."

Released from the Kidō that was holding him, Mayuri scrambled to flee the sight of his former master. In the process, he dropped the sword he had created to the ground and raced towards the exit of the workshop.

Reaching the exit, he stopped for a moment and threw a heated glare at his former master, yelling "You will regret not keeping me!"

With that said, he vanished off into the night, leaving Kisuke alone. His frame shook while he still dug his fingers into his palms. Silent unchecked tears slid down his cheeks as he moved to where the fallen sword was. Picking it up, he examined it for a moment before laying it onto the table it had come from.

"I'm sorry, all of you. Give me time, I will free you."

000

000

"_I soon discovered where Mayuri had found those souls. He had snuck into the village that we belonged to and kidnapped many humans and demons, along with the neighboring villages that were in the area. Even that poor human girl, Hikari, wasn't spared. To find out that the one you trusted the most had betrayed you, it was heartbreaking. Many good men and women died just for his psychotic experiment._"

Dodging a slash aimed to take chop his head off, Kisuke counterattacked, only to have his blade blocked by his former apprentice. Chancing a glance into his amber eyes for a moment, he found nothing that looked like the young child he had found abandoned along the road all those years ago.

"_When I looked into undoing the damage he had done, I discovered the seal he used on that sword was different than what I had used in the past. His seal, it was permanent. After I consulted with several priestesses, it was determined that the souls could never pass on properly and would forever be trapped within that sword. Learning that broke my heart and hardened it even more so at the same time. To know that my own apprentice could do such a thing almost made me hunt him down. Even then though, I knew I could most likely never kill him._"

Leaping away from the blue haired demon, the sword smith added "_And then there was the fact that he learned the secret to creating a zanpakutō. I had heard this through my intelligence network fifty years following me forcing him to leave that he had created one. It wasn't long after that when I was alerted that The Thirteen had received their zanpakutōs from him. As the years passed, I heard more and more about the evil zanpakutōs he created. I did nothing due that I couldn't bring myself to go after him._"

"_But that was then and this is now._" the sword smith confidently said. "_The crimes he has committed cannot go unanswered. I have to put my personal feelings aside and do what I should have done all those years ago instead of letting him leave._"

"Tell me, sensei, are you ready to fight yet? I can tell your heart is not yet in this fight. Thinking on your past failures?"

Not even flinching at the words of his former apprentice, Kisuke smoothly replied "It's a shame that things had to come to this, Mayuri."

"It's true, I hate to have to cut you down, my former sensei. I have a better suggestion. Why don't you willingly come with me and tell me all about your research. I promise not to experiment daily on you in return and you will be treated with as much dignity as possible that someone of your position could have. So, how about it?"

Letting out a low chuckle at first, the sword smith soon broke into fits of laughter. He soon came down from it and smirked at the blue haired demon, saying "I'll have to think on that offer."

Visibly angered by his former master's mocking words, Mayrui growled out "You will tell me all your secrets, even if I have to drag them out of you, piece by piece!"

"Then that's what you'll have to do." Kisuke answered in a deadly serious tone. "As for me, I don't intend on dying here today. Let's go."

Flashing away, he suddenly reappeared in front of the surprised blue haired demon. It was all he could do to block the attack meant to slice him in half. Sent skidding backwards from the tremendous force, he roared forward with his trident ready for the next assault.

The two blades collided with a thunderous clash of steel ringing throughout the area. Grinding their blades against one another, the two demons pushed to gain dominance over the other. All at once, the pair vanished into thin air, followed by the sound of steel ringing throughout the area as glimpses of the two appeared in different places. Each time the two reappeared, they would disappear once more and appear seconds later in another location. Again and again, the two clashed, neither gaining the upper hand on the other.

Separating himself from his former apprentice, Kisuke sized up the man across from him before letting a small smirk appear on his face. Racing forward, he suddenly leapt high into the air, his green outer haori and hat fluttering from the motion. Coming down quickly, he slashed in a downwards right diagonal motion, expecting to be blocked like always.

Instead, he found his blade cleaving straight through his former student's left shoulder. The sword cut through the bone and sinewy muscle, effectively amputating it.

"_What the ..._"

Not having time to question what had just happened, the sword smith had less than a second to react to a counterattack meant to chop his right arm off. Falling backwards, he felt his shoulder grazed by the golden trident. Recovering quickly and back-flipping away several feet, he glanced at his wound momentarily before returning his attention to his former apprentice. He spotted blood splashing to the ground from the wound of the demon, along with a trickle of sweat pouring down his face.

Taking stock of his own wound, he muttered "_He gave me a flesh wound. So, his game was to lure me in and take each other's arms off. Too bad for him it failed._"

Hearing the sound of clattering steel hit the ground, Kisuke frowned when he realized how close it was and glanced down beside himself, finding that Benihime was laying on the ground. Eyes staring intently at his right arm, he suddenly found that it was trembling and he could not feel it anymore.

"What's going on!"

Manically laughing at the shock his former master had on his face, Mayuri smugly said "This is the effect of my Ashisogi Jizō. Whenever I cut you with it, if I happen to cut a limb, the signals going to the brain through your nervous system that control it are cut off. It has rendered your right arm completely useless to you. However, the pain receptors are quite active, so be mindful of that."

Softly gasping at the words of the blue haired demon, the sword smith let out a low chuckle, saying "Then your move was moot. You forget, I chopped off your arm. Us fighting one another with one arm each is a bit pointless, though mine will regain motion I'm certain."

"Don't take me too lightly." Mayuri haughtily retorted. "Your arm will not regain motion so long as I live. The effects of Ashisogi Jizō remain until I either release it or am killed."

Digging his golden trident into the ground and reaching into the left side of his now blood soaked outer kimono top, he added "True, I sacrificed my left arm, but not without knowing I would have the upper hand after this little exchange. You didn't honestly think I would keep this battle on a level playing field, did you, sensei?"

Finding what he sought at long last and pulling it out from his inner pocket, the deranged white demon revealed a hypodermic needle filled with what looked like a green liquid. Injecting it into the stump that was once his left shoulder, he winced slightly.

Without warning, the stump began glowing with horrid pink demonic energy and shot out a bundle of flesh, bone, and sinew. Threading together, the bundle quickly formed a white skinned arm that was an exact replica of the one that had been sliced off previously.

"Oh that smarts. So much so that I think I could become lost in the pain." Mayuri complained.

Gasping at the sight that he had just seen, Kisuke tried to form words in his mouth. At last forming a coherent sentence, he asked "How on earth did you regenerate your arm?"

Smirking triumphantly as he threw the empty needle to the ground, the white skinned demon smartly replied "You didn't think I sat around doing nothing over all these years, did you now sensei? I was busy developing new swords, while at the same time I expanded my research into the medical field. During such time, I created a powerful drug that I call Hojiku-Zai. It allows a person injected with it to regenerate lost limbs and organs, though the side-effects are quite nasty."

"You are subjected to pain that could make one pass out, if they do not have a strong constitution that is. It was tested on several subjects, myself included. In fact, it was even used on the head general of the South, Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez when he lost his left arm in battle. However, I cannot produce much of it ever due to the resources it requires, thus it is only used on special occasions. Still, I do carry at least one or two doses with me, just in case."

Drawing his blade out of the ground with his right hand while he flexed his left repeatedly, the demon added "As you can see, I did not weaken myself for no reason. It was all part of my plan to bring you down. Now then, shall we continue?"

Gazing at his limp arm, Kisuke slid his eyes shut momentarily before bending down and picking his sword up using his left hand. Standing and swinging the blade out in front of himself, he revealed his eyes once more, showing that they still had confidence and the will to fight within them.

"Oh, you still have some fight left, eh? That is good. I was hoping it wouldn't be that easy." the deranged demon stated.

Not saying a word in reply, the green clad demon charged forward, blade poised ready. Sneering at this, the deranged demon parried the attack with ease and countered. Having none of it, the sword smith was quick to dodge the attack and tried to launch a new attack from behind. The attack only cut through thin air, leaving the sword smith slightly frustrated.

Darkly chuckling, Mayuri smoothly said "Fighting me is useless. I know your dominant arm is your right. Even someone as skilled as you must realize how futile it is to fight someone with an arm that is not capable of wielding the blade correctly."

Saying nothing, the sword smith dashed forward, blade at the ready to strike. With less than two feet to go, he flashed away and reappeared to the demented demon's right side poised to attack.

Not even shifting his stance, the blue haired demon deflected the attack. Eyes sliding over towards the sword smith, he nonchalantly questioned "Was that your best?"

Having no chance to respond as his opponent flashed away, Kisuke suddenly sensed his former apprentice was behind him with his blade poised to run him through. As he turned to face his opponent, he quickly realized he had no time to block.

Grinning widely due that he thought he had won, Mayuri declared "Die!"

**Thanks everyone for reading the chapter. Now, if you could do me a kind favor and review to let me know what you think of the chapter, I'd appreciate it. Till next time!**


	13. Chapter 13: Past Mistakes, Pt 2

**Hey there everyone! So, things are looking up a bit at work. Last time I mentioned about our website for the Air Force was going to shutdown in May, but since then things have changed. That order has since been cancelled and our new closing day is May of 2012. It gives the users of our site plenty of time to figure out what to do. Supposedly the higher ups are going to migrate all data and documents from the site into some kind of other system, but my thought is, that will be expensive. If they use what I think they will, which is Microsoft SharePoint, it will cost the AF very much so to do that. They spend $2.8 million yearly on the budget for our site, but if they move over to SharePoint, just standing up what they plan will cost $9 million. Seems logical to me that they stay and actually have us do work, but whatever. Don't hurt my feelings none if they fall flat on their face. Oh yeah, my mate and I have found a home we think we're going to buy. We need one more look over along with my parents (/shutters\) and we'll decide. It's appraised for more than what they're selling, but the reason behind that is due that the couple want to move as soon as possible. We know them from church, mostly due to their son. At any rate, I'm hoping this will be it and we'll finally have a home. Otherwise, not much new in my life.**

**Writing wise, ugh, I thought I'd get further ahead than I am, but I'm lagging behind. I just haven't had the time to write like I thought originally. My mistake, but I will do my best to keep on top of it.**

**Thank you both Kattana and auronsword for your reviews. It's always good to hear from both of you and read your encouraging reviews.**

**To any who haven't reviewed or want to, please do so. I really enjoy hearing people's thoughts on my stories. I know, it's so troublesome to write it down, but in my opinion, it is the only way a writer can truly understand how people feel about the story. Not to mention it gives them a feel for if the story is going in the right direction or if their writing style is working out. Long story short, reviews = happy writers.**

**Well, I think that'll do it for this week. Enjoy!**

**Meanings for certain words:**

_**Chikasumi no Tate = Blood Mist Shield**_

_**Kirisaki, Benihime = Shred, Crimson Princess**_

_**Shibari, Benihime = Binding, Crimson Princess**_

_**Hiasobi, Benihime, Juzutsunagi = Fire-Playing, Crimson Princess, Beaded Mesh**_

_**Bushin = Clone**_

**Chapter 13**

"Amusing."

That single word escaped the mouth of Mayuri as his golden trident like sword ground against a hexagonal-shaped crimson barrier. The barrier stood less than half a foot in front of Kisuke and was well over a foot taller than him and a few feet wider than his frame.

Leaping away and swinging his sword out from his body, the green garbed demon let out a sigh of relief. The crimson barrier soon shattered, leaving his opponent looking a bit pensive.

"You used your Chikasumi no Tate to block me. Quite amusing that you'd resort to depending on your zanpakutō."

Hardening his gaze at his former apprentice, Kisuke firmly replied "You never did understand the relationship between a zanpakutō and it's master. You always found it to be simply a weakness. Let me teach you one thing before you reach your end, my former student."

"Do not mock that relationship. Zanpakutō's and their master only grow stronger when the two's souls resonate with one another. This relationship is built on trust and submission. Those that do not have such a relationship with their zanpakutō only weaken their overall power. You never truly understood this lesson, and even now you still ignore it."

Pointing the blade at the deranged demon, he added "You have modified your zanpakutō and crushed it's spirit until it no longer has the desire to trust you. Because of that, your own sword's strength is limited, along with your own."

"I do not need a lecture from a weakling!" Mayuri snarled. "You are the one who does not understand what a zanpakutō is! It is merely a tool, nothing more, nothing less. That is why you are the one fighting with only one arm and will die here today!"

Releasing a heavy sigh as he hid his eyes beneath the shadows of his bangs, the sword smith smoothly said "Fine then, I'll just have to prove to you how much stronger a zanpakutō can be when it has a proper relationship with it's master. Perhaps then your eyes will open a bit, but unlikely."

Settling back into a ready stance with his blade raised in front of himself, the green garbed demon hardened his gaze. Shifting his right foot forward a few inches, he suddenly launched forward at top speed towards his former apprentice. Swiping out, he found his blade parried by the still smirking deranged demon. Drawing back his sword, he shot forth several high speed stabs. Gritting his teeth as his opponent sidestepped or blocked the attacks easily enough, he threw a roundhouse kick that caught his foe off guard.

Gathering crimson demonic energy on the blade of his sword quickly, the sword smith charged forward and slashed horizontally as he calmly said "Nake, Benihime!"

Dodging the crimson energy blast that was making a whistling sound by just a marginal breadth, the deranged demon went on the attack and slashed rapidly at the green garbed demon. Each of his attacks were well timed and placed so that they collided with his opponent's sword and shot out a spray of sparks from each strike.

Beginning to feel more and more pressure in deflecting each of the blows, the sword smith grit his teeth. "_Damn, this is a lot harder to do with one arm. He's half right in the fact that my right arm is my dominant one, but I am ambidextrous. Even so, I've never fought anyone with just my left arm alone. There was no need, though I have practiced with it quite often._"

Eyes widening when his sword was unexpectedly raised up higher than normal, thus leaving him open, the sword smith found himself faced with the blade of his opponent about to stab him through the stomach.

"DIE!"

"Nake, Benihime!"

Finding his blade stopped by a thin version of the crimson energy shield again, the blue haired demon backed off as the barrier shattered.

"Damn you Kisuke Urahara! JUST DIE!"

Smiling lightly, the sword smith tauntingly asked "Are you that infuriated with me?"

About to heatedly yell back, Mayuri stopped and took a deep breath. Looking up with a disinterested look on his face, he smoothly replied "I swear. Everyone gets so worked up over the most minute details."

Holding his zanpakutō away from his body diagonally, he declared "Bankai."

Glowing with a dark, sickly red aura, the golden trident vanished into thin air and was replaced by the demon's original sword. Above the demented demon started forming the same sickly aura. It quickly spread about and formed a pair of large yellow hands connected to a massive caterpillar body that was green with a pale pink underbelly. The head of the creature formed into a large yellow baby's with purple markings that formed around it's eyes. Around it's neck was a massive red cape and above it was a halo that had several bells ringing. Opening it's eyes slowly, the creature let out a soft baby cry as wisps of purple smoke poured out of it's mouth.

"Konjiki Ashisogi Jizō."

Running his eyes over the large creature that was his apprentice's Bankai, Kisuke cocked his head to the side, saying "It's surprising that you would have an actual living creature for your Bankai. However, it seems you've modified this form also."

Sneering at his former master, the white skinned demon replied "But of course. I won't tell you of all his enhancements in this form, but I will tell you this much. Your pathetic Benihime is about to suffer a horrible, painful death, along with you. Neither of you will leave here alive after insulting me throughout this battle."

"Konjiki Ashisogi Jizō, kill him. Let your toxic breath bring him to his knees in a slow and painful death!"

Holding it's breath for a moment, the large caterpillar baby creature shot a burst of purple hazy smoke towards the sword smith. The smoke soon enveloped the green clad demon, hiding him completely from view of both the creature and demon.

Laughing manically as he watched on, Mayuri decisively called out "I have won this pitiful fight!"

"Who said this is over?"

Eyes widening at the sound of his mentor's voice, the blue haired demon watched as the purple smog slowly receded due that the baby creature had let up. Standing calmly with his sword in front of him was the green garbed demon. Surrounding his body was a crimson energy barrier that protected him.

Letting the barrier fall, Kisuke smoothly said "Your poison can't kill what it can't reach. Good thing I used Chikasumi no Tate around myself this time. Looks like we're back at a stalemate, eh Mayuri?"

Infuriated by the taunt and visibly frustrated from the prolonged battle, Mayuri screamed out "I want you to lay siege to him! Crush him into dust!"

Crying out as if in answer to it's master's demand, the large baby creature charged forward as numerous blades sprouted out from it's chest. Rampaging across the ground towards the sword smith, it let out a lower guttural cry and lunged at it's target.

Creating a crimson barrier effortlessly and waiting for the impact, the sword smith grunted out as he was sent skidding backwards by the large creature at point of it's numerous swords.

Calmly, he declared "Kirisaki, Benihime."

Shooting out from the barrier in a flash with a high pitched whistling sound were several energy bullets. The barrage pelted the baby creature over and over, making it wail in pain as it was forced to retreat backwards from the numerous shots.

Glaring up at the creature, Mayuri yelled out "Did I order you to retreat! Kill him!"

Receiving a coo of confirmation, the massive baby creature shot off in the direction of the sword smith at top speed. Not moving until the last second, Kisuke evaded the creature by taking to the air and readied his blade to strike back.

"Nake, Benihime!"

Flaring forth in a high pitched whistling sound and slamming into the back of the head of the baby creature was a blast of crimson demonic energy that exploded on impact. The immediate reaction from the creature was a loud wailing sound as it reached up to feel the damage, but quickly found it's chubby arms could not attain the proper length to check the wound.

Staring down the large baby creature with a glint of sadness in his eyes, Kisuke softly whispered within his mind "_You can feel that zanpakutō's pain, can't you, Benihime?_"

Appearing within his mind instantly was a young woman with fiery straight red hair that fell down to her knees in length but had part of it in a bun on the back of her head, flaming red eyes, and glowing white skin. She was garbed in a crimson colored kimono that had slits cut into it to allow her gleaming white skinned legs visible. The kimono itself had several white flower designs etched into it. The very air about her seemed to give off a sense of mischief, but as well one to not cross her.

"_I feel it, Kisuke._" Benihime answered in a sad tone. "_He has hurt it so much that it longs to have it's suffering end, once and for all. We cannot turn away from such a thing._"

Gripping the hilt of his sword more tightly, the sword smith remarked "_I never imagined he would do something like this. Once a zanpakutō and it's master connect, the two become intertwined and grow with one another, only to be separated by death. Even then, death can take both unless the master releases it's hold over the zanpakutō._"

"_But Mayuri has not resonated with this zanpakutō. No, he instead only suppresses it's soul while it cries out to him. This is not the way I taught him. This is evil at it's best._"

"_Have you steeled your heart and know what you must do?_" Benihime asked with a serious look on her face.

In his mind, his mental image returned the hardened look and replied "_Yes, I know._"

Returning his mind to the battlefield, he glanced at the massive baby creature readying for another attack on him. As it charged him, the sword smith leapt high into the air. Several stories higher than the creature, he twisted his zanpakutō to the side as crimson demonic energy formed over the blade and began pouring off of it in waves.

Slashing out into the air in the direction of the creature, Kisuke coldly declared "Shibari, Benihime!"

Flowing off of the blade of the sword instantly was a blood red mesh net. The net quickly began enclosing around the creature and binding it effectively to the point that it was brought to a complete stop. Without warning, the net constricted the creature's body, earning a loud wail from it.

Flipping his sword around so that the blade was pointed downwards as he dropped to the ground, the sword smith landed in a one knee stance and stabbed the sword into a longer piece of the blood mesh net. The sound of the sword piercing the net made a wet sloshing sound, as if the net itself was alive and tangible.

With his head bowed till it reached down to the horsehair tassel, he flashed his eyes at the creature and icily said "Hiasobi, Benihime, Juzutsunagi."

Without warning, several small orbs started bubbling up from the net, each bursting and releasing small amounts of fire. The bubbles quickly flared up throughout the net as they raced onwards towards the baby creature that was still struggling to free itself from the blood mesh net.

Reaching the creature at long last, the bubbles seemingly ignited the net. A tower of blazing fire engulfed the baby monster all at once. The wails and inhuman cries of the creature echoed throughout the area as it was soon incinerated and reduced down to nothing but molten slag and ash.

Smoke covered the area as the flames died down, leaving the green garbed demon panting on one knee. Eyes hardening, he tried to stand only to fall back to one knee.

Emerging from the smoke at full speed with his sword poised ready to run through his enemy, Maruyi grinned evilly as he screamed "IT'S OVER!"

Thrusting his sword through his former master's chest, the demented demon smirked and whispered "You lose, sensei."

A strangled gurgle escaped the sword smith's mouth before he suddenly smirked. "You're right, it's over."

Upon saying those words, crimson energy burst out from around the sword that was plunged through his chest. Without any chance to move, the blue haired demon was enveloped in a blast of crimson flames that let out a loud whistling sound.

Slowly, the flames died down, revealing a scorched white skinned demon with most of his clothing burnt off. His pants and part of his inner black kimono had survived, but the sleeves and one pants leg were missing. The once pristine white skin had several scorched patches on it, along with his hair being burnt down to nothing.

Panting and trembling from the pain of the burns, the demon looked up to find his former master several feet away with a sad smile on his face. In an insane fit of rage, he yelled "WHY! WHY!"

"You're wondering why I wasn't killed? Well, that's simple. I knew you would try to finish me off after I exerted that much power in that combo attack. That's why I was prepared and created a Nake Bushin, or in other words, a Bushin that was made up of Benihime's demonic energy. I had it feign exhaustion and knew you wouldn't hesitate to rush in for the final blow. It was a gamble, but I knew you would do it." Kisuke explained with confidence in his voice.

Eyes flashing with anger and hate, Mayuri screamed "I HATE YOU! I WILL END YOUR PITIFUL LIFE HERE AND NOW!"

All at once, his sickly pink demonic aura flared around his body. As it did, suddenly two wildly flaring golden energy cuffs formed on each of his wrists. His demonic aura immediately flickered and dispersed as sweat began sliding down the sides of his face. Each cuff's shape had two spikes sticking out from the sides, with the two connected in the middle and single spikes sticking out from the top. The energy cuffs seemed to halt his body's ability to move in general as he struggled to free himself.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS!"

"It's a seal." Kisuke calmly stated as he tipped his hat downwards to hide his eyes. "When I took off your left arm earlier, I placed half of the seal onto your right hand. You might remember me touching your wrist just for a moment."

Thinking back, Mayuri suddenly remembered the movement from that confrontation. He quickly realized another such movement, particularly when he had run through the Nake Bushin.

"That's right, the other half of the seal was placed when you attacked my Bushin. The seal only activates when a demon attempts to draw on their demonic energy. All of their power is instantaneously drawn up, but instead of being released outside their body like normal, that power is sealed away within their body. That power swells quickly and attempts to find a way out, but the seal prevents that. The demonic energy only gets more and more distraught at this and is forced to generate it's power within the host's body. From there, the end result is easy enough to figure out."

"Your own power incinerates you from the inside out."

Gritting his teeth as the power began to build within his body, Mayuri gasped out "Shit, I..."

Looking up so that his eyes could be seen, Kisuke revealed the sadness within them. "I'm sorry for failing you, Mayuri. I should have stopped you back all those years ago. For not doing the right thing then, I am truly sorry."

"However, I doubt Kami will show mercy on your soul for the travesties you have committed. Farewell, my former apprentice."

Flaring about wildly, purple demonic energy from the seal began flicking across the demented demon's body. His arms were forced to spread out as the aura started forming a lengthy oval shape. All at once, his body was swallowed up by the purple aura as he let out a horrendous scream from the severe pain. The scream soon ended as the aura flared brightly and the scent of burnt flesh filled the air.

Sensing no trace of his former apprentice's aura, Kisuke let out a soft sigh and whispered "It is done, Benihime."

"_We had no choice, Kisuke._" replied a quiet response within his head from the spirit of his sword.

Taking a glance around the area, he attempted to move his right arm. Finding he once again had use of it, he flexed his hand a few times in a testing manner before he started walking further into the village.

"I know. Let's try and fix the damage he has done here before we leave."

000

000

Standing just outside of the room of the person she sought was a young woman with long light blue hair pulled back into a long ponytail that reached down to her mid-back in length, pink eyes, pointed ears that had their points hidden within her hair, and a slim body. Her pink kimono had long hanging sleeves, with a white obi sash tying it together. A set of white tabi socks were on her feet, along with a pair of red sandals.

Trembling slightly from past experience with said person she was to find, she nervously reached out and rapped on the door, already knowing that a harsh response would be returned due to the scent and sounds leaking out from within the room.

"GO THE FUCK AWAY!"

Pushing her fear and shame aside, the young demoness steeled herself and calmly said "General Grimmjow, Lord Aikamaru requires your presence in a meeting."

Receiving no response, the demoness pushed herself to once again knock, asking "General?"

Shocked when the door was nearly ripped off it's hinges as it opened, the demoness took a few fearful steps back. Standing in the doorway with no clothing on and reeking of sex was a panther demon who had short, wild blue hair. His chiseled muscles were all revealed to the world, along with a lone scar that ran down his sternum. On his right cheek was a bone like jaw that seemed to run along his internal jaw line.

Eyeing the woman for a moment, he grinned evilly towards her as her cheeks heated up and she averted her eyes. "Ah, Botan, here I thought you vowed that you'd never come back to my room again. That's what you screamed when I dumped your naked ass out in the hall."

Blushing even deeper than before and feeling a rush of heat between her legs when her eyes wondered down the demon's body, Botan fought for control of her emotions and to keep from screaming a heated response back at the panther demon.

Taking a deep breath and suppressing her anger and feelings, she grit out "Grimmjow, Lord Aikamaru has demanded your presence immediately. A meeting has come up."

"That's not the only thing 'coming up', is it, Botan?" Grimmjow taunted when he picked up the scent of her arousal. "Ever since our last romp together you've wanted me. Why continue to pine for an opportunity to make your way into Aikamaru's bed? He'll never have you after what you've done with everyone else. Why not come in and join our romp instead?"

About to heatedly fire back, the demoness was cut off when female neko demon popped her head out under the panther demon's arm. Her hair was jet black and fell down to her waist in length. Jade colored eyes that were slit examined the demoness harshly for a moment. Stepping out into the hallway, the petite black haired buxom revealed she too was naked and had numerous claw marks that littered her body.

"Want to join in?" the neko asked with lust pouring out of her eyes.

Disgusted with herself for even thinking on the offer, Botan turned even more red with embarrassment and stuttered out "No... Grimmjow, Lord Aikamaru wants you at the meeting right away."

"I'm a little busy."

Frustrated slightly by the flamboyant remark, Botan ground out "He told me you have ten minutes."

Smirking, the panther demon replied "I'll be there in twenty, if I feel like it. Offer to join is still on the table."

Turning away and storming down the hallway, the blue haired demoness heard the panther demon burst out loud laughing before shutting the door.

000

000

Tapping his fingers in annoyance on his low desk as he continued to wait on his general sat the Lord of the Southern Lands. His dark blue hair fell down to just above his mid-back in length and was pulled back into a tight ponytail. Anger reflected in the two dark purple eyes of the water demon as he clenched his fist tight. Alabaster skin gleamed in the sunlight of pouring in from the outside. The fine purple silk kimono top and pants on his body fit his form well.

Hearing the shoji door at last slide open and the panther demon walk in, the demon lord was to his feet immediately and slammed the panther into the wall with his hand clutching the general's throat tightly.

"When I give an order, I expect you to follow it, Grimmjow." the water demon hissed. "I ordered you here well over thirty minutes ago. I can handle your insolence, but not your incompetence."

Gasping for air and trying to reply, Grimmjow rasped out "My ... apologies, Lord Aikamaru."

Releasing his hold and letting the panther fall to the ground unceremoniously, the water demon turned away and icily said "Do not disappoint me again."

Standing as he rubbed his throat tenderly and tried to inhale some air back into his lungs, the panther demon remained silent. At last catching his breath, he padded over to in front of the desk that the Lord of the South sat at and took a seat. A crystal sphere sat on the desk that was glowing lightly. After a moment, the crystal had the images of two demons sitting at a desk.

Sitting with his eyes closed was a demon that had jet black locks of hair that reached his chin on the sides of his face and the remainder reaching down to his lower neck. He had cream colored skin and wore a white top that was partially open, a dark blue wrap that went from his waist to just above his claves in length, dark blue pants, a thick purple rope that was knotted around his waist, and gray hand coverings.

Beside him sat the General of the Eastern Lands, Ulquiorra Cifer. His emotionless emerald eyes stared into straight at the pair.

"Lord Sasuke, General Ulquiorra." Aikamaru respectfully said with an incline of his head.

Replicating the same behavior, the demon with his eyes closed opened them to reveal cold coal colored eyes and curtly replied "Lord Aikamaru, General Grimmjow."

Settling in to a small silence, the water demon smoothly asked "Why have you called this meeting, General Ulquiorra?"

"I have called it due to some troubling information that was just relayed to me today. It seems that our sword smith, Mayuri Kurotsuchi, has been slain."

Visibly surprised, Grimmjow lowly growled and gruffly asked "Who killed him?"

Sliding his emerald eyes shut and taking a deep breath, the bat demon slowly opened them and coolly said "He was cut down by his former master, Kisuke Urahara. It was confirmed by several witnesses that the pair fought one another. In the end, it seems Mayuri was not up to the challenge of killing Urahara and died at his former master's hand."

Silence engulfed the group of four for several long moments before Eastern Lord spoke up. "I want to know how Kisuke Urahara infiltrated the Eastern Lands."

"I am currently investigating how he did it. Knowing Kisuke Urahara, he found a gap in our lines and managed to sneak through." Ulquiorra affirmed. Facial expression hardening, he silkily added "However, this does raise a concern for me. If there is a breach in our defenses and Kisuke Urahara found them, he could have alerted the Western and Northern Lands. It has long been suspected that he has been leaking information to the Northern Lands for several months, hence why I have doubled my efforts in making contact with him to bring him over to our side."

"Even if there was a gap in our defenses, no army of any size could infiltrate our lands and remain undetected." Sasuke stated.

Nodding his head in agreement, the bat demon remarked "This is true, Lord Sasuke. There is a small problem though. A smaller group could enter into our lands and possibly wreak havoc. I have no doubt they would use guerilla tactics. This could interrupt supply lines and orders going to our troops. It would become an unsightly problem that would require us to deal with."

"Indeed." Aikamaru concurred. "What is the possibility that this has happened?"

Remaining silent for a few moments as he pondered over the question of the Southern Lord, the bat demon slowly answered "Probability at this time is most likely forty-six percent. Kisuke Urahara is more than a simple sword smith. His intelligence level and skill are not to be underestimated. If he is working as an ally to our enemies, he would no doubt share such valuable information with them and no doubt aide them in invading our lands."

"There is also the troubling fact that both Lords of the North and West have not been seen for nearly a month now. As well, only two generals can be accounted for in the Western Lands. And then there is the pressing matter that none of the higher commanders have been seen, including the half breed heirs to the West."

"Should we be concerned?" Grimmjow questioned with a scowl on his face. "They alone wouldn't be a threat."

"You underestimate them as always, Grimmjow." Ulquiorra smoothly responded. "It is possible that they may have infiltrated the Southern and Eastern Lands. Such an infiltration would be devastating and difficult to quell. Both Lords of the North and West are skilled enough to evade our patrols. Their group or groups would consist of small numbers, but large enough to cause severe damage from their hit and run tactics. If what I have thought is possible, the very capitals of our lands could be very well within their sights."

"So what should we do about it? Just pretend everything is alright and wait?" the panther demon sarcastically questioned.

"We protect what we can, for now." the bat demon answered. "Lords, I suggest that we move a contingent of troops from the frontlines to our capitals. This will give those groups a chance to catch their breath while the borders remain intact."

Throwing a heated glare at the bat demon in the crystal ball, Grimmjow grit out "What about the frontlines? If you hadn't noticed, the Western and Northern Lands are constantly harassing our defenses along the borders. They've nearly punched a hole through some of our areas. If not for the quick thinking on behalf of our commanders, the West would have pushed further into our territory by now."

"I fear it is but a ruse to draw our attention." Sasuke declared. "Shifting our attention to those areas would expose us."

"Drawing back does leave our frontlines vulnerable, however, to preserve the Southern and Eastern Lands, we must protect the capitals." Aikamaru spoke up. "Ulquiorra, how many troops are your proposing we pull back, and what do you suggest we do to keep the gaps closed in our frontlines?"

"A legion, or at least nearly that number must be returned to our capitals. We cannot take such a possibility of our enemy in our lands too lightly. The Lords of the West and North have been missing for a month. If they were carefully invading our lands in a small group and heading for the capitals, they would no doubt take at least a month to two in reaching us. Of course, that is assuming they have invaded." the bat demon commented.

Taking a deep breath, he added "I propose that we pull back those troops for only a month's time. If it is true that the Western and Northern Lands have infiltrated us, they will be forced to rethink their strategy immediately once confronted by our troops. If they are not found within that month's time, then we shall return said troops to the frontlines."

"As for the gaps this will cause in our defenses, we will concentrate our troops in the areas being harassed the most. It should be easy enough to keep the Western and Northern troops at bay for a month. Is that a reasonable compromise?"

After what seemed like an eternity, but was only two minutes in actuality, the Southern Lord spoke up, saying "It seems adequate."

"Agreed." the Eastern Lord affirmed.

Huffing under his breath, the panther demon grunted out "Whatever."

"Then it is agreed, we shall quickly bring close to a legion of troops back to the capitals." the bat demon stated.

"How soon can you have them back?" Sasuke questioned.

Closing his eyes for a mere moment, Ulquiorra replied "They can be here within the next five to seven days. I shall make contact immediately and have them moved."

Nodding in agreement, the water demon remarked "Do so, Ulquiorra. You serve both the Southern and Eastern Lands well."

Inclining his head to the Southern Lord, the bat demon politely replied "Thank you, Lord Aikamaru. I live to serve both lands."

"That is all for this meeting then." the Eastern Lord declared. "We will meet at our regular meeting soon, unless something happens before then. Farewell Lord Aikamaru, General Grimmjow."

"Farewell Lord Sasuke, General Ulquiorra." the Southern Lord replied as the crystal ball darkened and the images of the two demons faded away.

000

000

Sitting in a large tent with all of the commanders of the legion, Iya let out a soft sigh and slid his muddy brown eyes shut. In his heart, he felt a small prick of loneliness welling up deep within, along with a sense of worry.

"_I hope Lilly is alright. I wish I could have made her a part of our group, but Sesshomaru had a point about her and Yoshe being a strong, cohesive team. Breaking them apart would not have been a wise decision. Regardless, I miss her._"

Ears twitching as he heard footsteps approaching the tent, the hanyou was quick to open his eyes and sniff the air. Determining the approaching figure's identity instantly, he stood up and readied himself for what he knew was about to happen.

Entering into the tent and moving elegantly before the group was a female eagle demon who had long blonde hair that fell to just above her mid-back, piercing blue eyes, and a petite body build. Her clothing consisted of a simple gray colored kimono top and pants that were loose fitting and gave her plenty of room for motion. Strapped on her side in a pale green obi was a sword that had a black sheath and a purple cloth wrapped hilt.

Quick to bow deeply in front of the group, the eagle demoness was soon prompted to rise and softly said "My Lords, I have returned with our preliminary scouting report."

"Let us hear it." Sesshomaru stated.

Nodding her head quickly, the demoness slowly said "Our initial reports are that the Southern Lands have pulled some of their troops back to the capital. The best estimates so far are that about a legion of troops have been brought in."

"Do you think they've caught on?" Ryo worriedly asked Iya with concern flashing in his eyes.

Cupping his chin in his hand, the dog hanyou calmly replied "I don't think so. If they had, they'd have confronted us first. Something tells me that something else has happened to force them into this kind of strategy. What though is the question."

"We need more information." he added after a moment's pause.

"Should we do some more recon work from the sky, my Lord?" the eagle demoness questioned.

Shaking his head silently, the dog hanyou answered "No, that's not enough. We need to get word of mouth what's happening in the Southern Lands. To get this information, we need someone to infiltrate the enemy's capital city, if not the Southern Keep itself. However, most of us are well known and would be easily picked out. Besides, sending anyone with human blood in them would be suicide."

Mentally running through the list of soldiers under their command momentarily, Iya shook his head, saying "Most of our troops are not from this region, so that puts us at a disadvantage in sending someone in. From what I can remember, only a few of our troops have a slight chance as passing off as someone from these lands, but not likely."

"What about me?"

All eyes fell upon the small neko child, May Chang, who was standing next to her adopted father, Ryo. "I'm a neko demon and their clan lives in these lands. I could pass as a local child or something to that affect at the very least."

"But how much information would people tell a child?" Ichigo asked with his customary scowl in place. "And for that matter, you're from China, so wouldn't they kind of notice a difference?"

Brow furrowing as she sought the answers to reply, the child at last said "Well, I could probably pass well enough for now. And if things got bad, I could use my true demon form."

"You're forgetting that you've yet to master it." Ryo admonished.

Sticking her tongue out at her adopted father, she replied "Poppa, I have enough control that I could remain in it for a while."

"To transform into that form you must exert a great deal of demonic energy. That is energy that will alert anyone and everyone within the area. It's a risk that you can't take lightly." the dog mage argued back. Letting out a heavy sigh, he added "Besides, if I let you go on such a dangerous mission like this, Tsunade would beat me senseless before skinning me alive with a dull kunai."

"You're silly, poppa."

"Let's get back on topic." Iya remarked with a smirk on his face. "Ryo, do you think that May could pull this off?"

Letting out a heavy sigh as he lowered his head for a moment until he grudgingly lifted it and grunted out "She is more than capable of carrying out such a task. We had her do something similar back in China when we freed her home village."

"This is the best course of action." Sesshomaru spoke up, making his opinion known. "This Sesshomaru sees no other way to gather information without alerting our enemies of our intentions."

"I agree also." Iya grudgingly stated. Turning towards the smaller child, he said "May Chang, you shall infiltrate the capital of the Southern Lands, and if possible, the Southern Keep. Find out as much information as you can. Once you have learned as much as possible, return to camp. We're already two days out from the Southern Keep and are having trouble ducking patrols as is, so do be careful. Do you accept this mission?"

Grinning ear to ear, May happily stated "Yes!"

000

000

Relaxing in a tree top and staring up at the starry night sky, Lilly let out a light sigh and slid her emerald eyes shut. Unfurling her tail from it's usual grip around her midsection, she swished it back and forth a few times, seemingly stretching it.

In her mind, a mental image of her mate instantly appeared. Seeing him looking at her with love in his eyes and a smile, she felt a small tear slide down her cheek. Reaching up and wiping away the tear quickly, the neko hanyou opened her eyes and released a heavy sigh. The stars above seemed to give her some comfort, but nothing that an embrace from her mate would do.

"Iya..." she whispered in a hushed tone.

Feeling the branch she sat on bob gently and picking up the sound of the person landing, the neko remained quiet and continued looking up at the sky.

Smiling at the neko sitting on the same branch for a few long moments, the new arrival sweetly said "So here you are. I figured you might be out here pining over him."

"You know me well, Tsunade." Lilly answered in a solemn tone. "Even though it's just been nearly two weeks time since I saw him last, I can't help but feel like something is missing and go off to think about him."

Sitting down close to the neko with an understanding smile on her face, the dog demoness replied "I know how you feel. Ryo and I haven't been separated hardly at all over the last nine years, but just to be apart from him feels like torture. I felt pain like this before when I lost my first mate all those years ago, but this time it seems much deeper and more sorrowful."

Sadly smiling back, the neko replied "I guess we just have to be strong and have faith in our mates that they'll return. And faith in ourselves as well, since we have a duty to return to them."

"Well said, Lilly."

Reaching into her green coat, the dog demoness began fishing around for a minute until she at last produced a small ceramic bottle and two saucer like cups.

"Like something to take your mind off of this?"

Receiving an acknowledgement of no from the neko with a head shaking, the demoness shrugged and placed one of the saucers down and the bottle. Returning the other into one of the pockets in her coat, the blonde buxom poured herself a cup of clear looking liquid.

Knowing that Tsunade was drinking, Lilly sniffed the air and picked up the scent of the rice wine and felt her stomach start to turn. Forcing herself to remain seemingly aloof, she turned her attention back to the sky and continued to gaze intensely at the many stars.

"You know you can't hide it forever from everyone."

Surprised at the accusation by the demoness but feigning confusion, Lilly asked "What do you mean?"

"I know the truth Lilly. You can't keep up such false pretenses for much longer. It's surprising that you've hidden it this well over the last few days or so." Tsunade stated in a firm tone.

Taking a on melancholy expression, the neko softly asked "How long have you known?"

Tapping her chin, the demoness nonchalantly answered "It's been a day since I caught a whiff of it off of you. I'd be guessing you're about three weeks along since we left about that time."

Shoulders slumping as she turned away from the demoness to stare up at the nighttime sky, the neko became even more somber. Two minutes passed before she said "I found out only a few days ago when I started noticing I was feeling sick, even after we had landed. Since then I got some herbs to help keep the nausea down."

"The others will notice."

"I won't fall to the back just because of this." the neko stubbornly retorted. "We've come too far for things to fall apart because of something unexpected."

Standing and stomping over to in front of the neko, Tsunade hauled her off of her perch and held her close to her face by her collar. "Lilly, this is serious! If you fight, you could run a great risk!"

Looking away, Lilly flatly muttered "I know..."

Quickly returning her view to the demoness with fiercely determined emerald eyes, she strongly fired back "But I can't sit by and do nothing! I can't and won't let Yoshe go face Lord Sasuke alone. She is strong on her own, but as a team we are stronger. We play off of one another's strengths and fill the gaps for our weaknesses. That's why we were chosen to face the Lord of the East."

Setting the neko down, the dog demoness turned away and took several steps before stopping and asking "Is the risk really worth it?"

"I don't want to fight in this condition, trust me." Lilly quietly replied. "However, there is no choice in the matter."

Letting out a heavy sigh, she added "Trust me, I know the dangers that I face. I don't want to fight in this condition, but at the same time, I cannot abandon my sister-in-law. Yoshe is like a sister to me. I know she would have no ill feelings towards me for not joining her in the battle due to what is happening but at the same time, I can't let her take on this responsibility alone."

"Lilly..."

"Promise me you won't tell them."

Not getting an answer, the neko quickly moved behind the dog demoness and spun her around to face her. Shimmering amber met fierce emerald for a few long moments until the demoness bowed her head lowly to hide her eyes.

"I promise."

Expression softening, the neko began to reply, only to be cut off by the demoness. "However, you mustn't take any unnecessary chances when you do fight. Promise me that and I will keep quiet."

Nodding her head, Lilly replied quietly "I promise."

Sighing heavily and turning away, Tsunade slowly said "In the meantime, I will teach you a few tricks to help hide what's going on. Know of course that they'll only work for a short while, but it should be good enough until we return the Western Lands."

Brightening, the neko smiled and said "Thank you."

000

000

"Lord Iya."

Awakening instantly to the voice of the sentry outside his tent, Iya yawned momentarily before sitting up and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. He quickly threw on his white inner kimono top and stepped outside to find the said sentry. Irritated and waving him off as he tried to bow to the hanyou, he grumpily asked "What is it?"

"I'm terribly sorry for disturbing you Lord Iya, but a message came for you from Lord Sesshomaru. The one you asked to scout out the Southern capital has returned."

Feeling his mind shrug off the fog of sleep instantly upon hearing this, the hanyou nodded his head and began the small trek over to his brother's tent. Moving the flap aside as he ducked inside, Iya found his elder brother, along with Ryo, Ichigo, Orihime, Shippou, and the generals waiting for him. Near the group stood the small neko child that had volunteered to take on the mission.

"Oh, you're back sooner than I figured you would be." Iya commented.

Nodding her head and smiling brightly, May replied "Yep, I sure am back. And I have all the information that you asked for."

Noting all within the tent were paying attention to her, the neko child took in a deep breath and slid her eyes shut. Opening them to reveal seriousness within her coal colored eyes, she calmly began releasing the information she had attained.

"About eight days ago, someone by the name of Kisuke Urahara attacked an ally of the Eastern and Southern Lands. This ally is a sword smith who was commissioned to create all the zanpakutō and other such demon blades for the two lands. His name was ..."

"Mayuri Kurotsuchi." Ichigo announced.

All eyes fell on him, with Iya asking "How do you know that?"

Folding his arms over his chest, the quarter demon answered "Kisuke spoke of him twice during my training with him. The first time he just mentioned it in passing and didn't really explain who this guy was. However, the second time, he was drunk off his ass and told me the story about him."

"He was his former apprentice. Kisuke found him as a child and raised him up. Eventually, he became Hat-and-Clogs apprentice. Apparently the guy was a genius, much like Hat-and-Clogs. But things didn't end well between the two of them. Kisuke found him performing what he called a taboo that he had told Mayuri never to attempt one night. Finding that, he threw Mayuri out and told him never to return."

Letting out a soft sigh, the quarter demon added "He told me that it was his greatest mistake. His former apprentice went on to create many destructive swords and eventually figured out the secrets behind creating a zanpakutō. Kisuke was ashamed of himself for not doing the right thing back then, but he never mentioned anything about fixing things."

"I suppose he finally decided it was time to settle the score." Ryo commented.

Rubbing the back of his head when he heard the small neko clear her throat, Iya quickly said "I'm sorry about that May. We got a little sidetracked. Continue on."

Nodding her head in a dubious manner, May continued on, saying "As I was saying, before so rudely interrupted, Mayuri Kurotsuchi was killed eight days ago in battle with Kisuke Urahara. Several people in the village where Mayuri had resided identified the assailant. Apparently, this disturbed the general of the Eastern Lands, Ulquiorra Cifer."

"He theorized that Kisuke Urahara was not traveling alone. General Ulquiorra is concerned due that the Lords of the West and North have been missing for nearly a month, as well as several notable others that are commanders within those said lands armies. Because of that, he is thinking that Kisuke Urahara has aided the Lords of both lands and several others in sneaking into the Eastern and Southern Lands. He has concluded that this is the most likely scenario due to several facts that do not sit well with him."

"It explains a lot." Ryo mumbled as he put his hand under his chin. "The Eastern and Southern Lands are under the illusion that we are being aided by Kisuke Urahara and are using smaller numbers."

Acknowledging her adopted father's words, the neko child said "Yeah, that was my guess. At any rate, General Ulquiorra suggested that if there are small groups of powerful demons such as the Lords of the North and West, then they must be caught immediately and dealt with. But he also realizes the danger of letting them roam about at the moment, thinking that they could use guerilla tactics against the forces of the Eastern and Southern Lands. It is for that reason he had a legion of troops pulled from the frontlines to the capitals of both respective lands so that their enemies cannot launch an attack on the capitals."

"How many is he expecting in these so called groups?" Iya questioned in a serious tone.

Brow furrowing as she thought for a moment, the neko soon replied "I believe he thought that the group would range from six people to thirty. More than that makes it difficult to remain hidden, but any less and the strategy would be far from effective."

"It seems they are somewhat on the right path, yet off by much." the dog hanyou commented.

"Indeed." the Western Lord spoke up. "Do you think we still possess the element of surprise?"

Remaining silent for several moments, the hanyou slowly replied "I do. Right now, they're expecting only thirty of us at most to attack. That gives us a strategy that will take them completely by surprise."

Noting the others were all looking at him for further explanation, Iya smoothly said "I suggest that the ten of us, the commanders, initiate the first contact with the enemy. We will seemingly be there to attack alone, much like they are thinking we will. Once the Southern Troops begin to attack us, we will signal our forces and have them attack the Southern Keep with all that they have. The Southern Troops will be thrown into chaos due to the overwhelming numbers, but I don't doubt the Southern General or the Southern Lord will pull back. They'll fight to the end."

"However, I suspect that their troops will not be able to keep up such an offensive against the likes of our legion, not when they're led by the Lord of the Western Lands."

"Hn." was the single response from the dog demon lord.

Yawning, the hanyou sleepily said "I suggest we get some rest. At dawn, we continue our march towards the Southern Keep."

Earning nods from all, the group dispersed, each heading for their respective tents.


	14. Chapter 14: Beginning of the End

**Hello once more everybody! So, life is pretty good. Since last time, my mate and I have begun the process of buying a house. Things look good with it thus far. We need it inspected and then we go talk with the bank, so yay. Other than that, not too much new in my life really. Just been busy like always, lol.**

**Writing wise, eh, I'm somewhat on schedule this week, somewhat not. When I get free time, I want to write, but end up not doing so. Meh, just me I guess. No worries though, I will always find a way to get a chapter out every two weeks.**

**Thank you as always to Kattana for the review. I truly appreciate your reviews. And to any of those that have not reviewed, I encourage you to do so. I really like hearing what people think of my story. If you don't, you don't. It's just nice to know what people think.**

**At any rate, until next time, take care all! Enjoy!**

**Meanings for certain words:**

_**Katon, Goukakyuu = Fire Element, Grand Fireball**_

_**Katon, Gōryūka = Fire Element, Great Dragon Fire**_

**Chapter 14**

"Damn annoying patrols." Kouga muttered as he flicked blood off of his claws. Laying around his feet were several Eastern Troops, each with claw marks near their throats or hearts.

Swinging her sword out to the side so to shake the blood off of her sword, Kagome closed her eyes and slowly said "At least we haven't been reported yet."

"Yeah, so quiet down about having to kill a patrol or two, you wimpy wolf." Inuyasha heatedly added.

Throwing a glare in the direction of the silver haired hanyou, the wolf demon bit his tongue to keep from responding. Returning his attention back to the other commanders and troops gathering back up, he let a smirk return to his face.

"We're almost within striking distance of the Eastern Castle. I think we should stop for the night and regroup. Tomorrow we'll smash through their gates and take them down."

"I agree." Yoshe spoke up. "We should rest for the night."

"I also agree." Lilly stated as she moved up beside the beautiful ice demoness. "We need to be at full strength before rushing into the Eastern Castle."

Nodding his head, the wolf demon motioned for the nearby generals and commanders, saying "It is official, we are making camp for the night. Tomorrow we strike back at the heart of our enemies! "

000

000

Staring up at the nighttime sky with her tail swishing behind herself and beating the limb she sat on, Lilly weakly smiled up at the half moon. Yawning, she leaned back against the tree and wrapped her arms around her chest. The early summer air was warm, yet at the same time had a hint of the cold spring that had been plaguing Japan.

Sensing a familiar presence approaching at a slow pace, the neko glanced down from her perch to find the Lady of the West was staring up at the tree she sat in. Shocked by the sudden appearance of the demoness on her branch, Lilly couldn't help but let out a soft gasp. Taking in the image of Yoshe in the moonlight, the neko felt as if she was staring at a goddess for a moment.

"I assume this is where you've been hiding?"

Regaining her bearings and acknowledging the demoness with a nod. "Yeah, I thought I'd look at the stars for a while. Iya and I frequently did it when before this war began."

Softly smiling and taking a seat, Yoshe replied "Sesshomaru and I enjoyed doing the same at times when he would return home from missions. I miss that special time we had together, especially on a night like tonight."

A comfortable silence settled in on the pair as they stared up at the sky for nearly an hour. At last, the silence was broken by the neko, who asked "Are you scared about tomorrow?"

"A little." the ice demoness hesitantly confided. "I worry about things that could happen, but I know we'll make it work somehow. Faith is the only thing we have in these dark times."

"I'm a bit worried too. This is the first time that so much has ridden on a battle that I was to take part of. I've always had Iya to depend on if things got rough, but even then, I knew he trusted me to carry out whatever battle I was in." the neko admitted. "He worried about me, naturally."

"I think all men and women do the same for their mates." Yoshe pointed out with a soft smile.

Agreeing with the demoness, the neko added "I can't help but worry though. If I fail and am killed in battle, Iya will die along with me. That is what scares me the most; dying doesn't scare me, but it's the fact that I know my mate will go to the grave with me for my weakness."

"Then live."

Nodding her head in agreement, the neko softly replied "I will. You do the same. Sesshomaru would never forgive me for letting you fall in battle."

"I have no intentions on dying. My mate and child are looking forward to my return. I don't have the heart to disappoint either of them."

Brightly smiling as she stood and offered her hand to the ice demoness. Bringing her to her feet, Lilly warmly said "Then let's renew our pact. Both of us will live and return to our mates, no matter what."

Clasping her hand around the neko's hand with her own, Yoshe replied "I agree."

"Then all we have to do from here is keep that pact." Lilly smartly said.

Giggling at one another, the two soon left the tree and returned to camp. Entering their tents, the pair soon fell into a light sleep, with each dreaming of their futures.

000

000

Slowly walking down the long road that led up towards the Southern Keep, a group of seven said nothing to one another. Leading them toward the gates of the keep was the Lord of the West, with his half brother beside of him.

Spotting a familiar green skinned lizard demon that wore thick silver armor and wielded a large battleaxe guarding the gate, Iya couldn't help but smirk. Flexing his claws and picking up his speed, he saw surprise filling the eyes of the demon.

"You're ..."

"This half breed has returned. Make room in Hell for your Lord." Iya icily stated as he slashed the head off of the lizard demon without even flinching.

Watching his brother fall back in beside him, Sesshomaru smoothly asked "Was that necessary?"

"He would have fought us. I simply got rid of him." the hanyou stated.

"Hn."

Leading his group through the gates to the Southern Keep, the dog demon came to an abrupt stop as he eyed the grounds in front of the keep. Lined in front of it was a tall stone wall that had a second gate. On top of the gate was a large number of archers, each with their bows and arrows drawn in a ready position. At the same time, before the gate and fanned out along the wall was hundreds of the Southern Lands troops. All had their weapons drawn, most wielding swords, some with battleaxes, others with spears, few holding a mace, and the remainder holding various weapons.

"Lord Sesshomaru, it's a surprise you'd come all this way just to surrender." Grimmjow boasted from his vantage point. He stood on the wall above the gate with one foot resting on the ledge and his arms crossed over his chest while he smirked.

"This Sesshomaru sees that your arrogance knows no bounds."

Chuckling at the stoic demon lord, the panther demon pointed a finger at the group, saying "I don't know what your plans are but they end here. You see, your buddy Kisuke Urahara gave away your position and all. It's over for the seven of you, so say your goodbyes."

Watching their general raise his hand, the wall lined with archers immediately raised their bows and drew their arrows back.

Not flinching, the group of seven stood their ground. Stepping forward beside his brother, Iya called out "Call it off, Grimmjow. There is no need for you and your men to die here. The Western Lands have won."

Bursting out loud laughing at the hanyou, the panther demon smugly replied "Is that so? Then you won't mind going on ahead to Hell for me."

All at once, the general dropped his hand, signaling for all of the archers to launch their arrows. Hundreds of arrows flew high into the air and soon began arcing downwards towards the seven that stood where they originally were.

Glancing at his adopted daughter, Ryo nodded his head and encouragingly said "Go ahead, May."

Moving in front of the group with incredible speed, the small neko child drew a circle in the dirt with her foot quickly and created a five pointed star within that. Falling onto her knees, she slammed her palms onto the circle. Instantly, a blue demonic aura flared out from it.

Rising up out of the ground without warning was a massive wall of earth that shielded the group from the rainstorm of arrows. The hundreds of arrows harmlessly embedded into the dirt wall, dealing no damage whatsoever to it.

Smirking, May smartly said "My turn."

Blue demonic energy flared from her hands instantly and ran up the wall. The wall suddenly transformed with several spikes starting to form on it. All at once, the spikes fired off from their positions on the wall and went sailing towards the unprotected archers. The earth spikes tore through several of the defending demons, many of which lost limbs or were killed instantly. Their horrendous screams inflicted a further wound upon the unharmed soldiers, mainly that of fear.

"Stand your ground men!" Grimmjow barked.

Nodding towards Orihime, Ryo called out "Let's go!"

"Right!" the demoness called back.

At the same time, both leapt out from behind the protection of the earth wall. Sword drawn, the bobcat mage came to a skidding stop. Bringing her sword up horizontally in front of her, she let go of it. It remained stationary in the air, seemingly hovering on it's own. A light tap on the end of the hilt sent the blade spinning rapidly, making it look almost like a saw blade. Reaching out and bringing it to a stop and turning the sword downwards with the blade facing the army, she smirked slightly.

"Hadō 58: Tenran!"

Flaring out from the sword and soaring straight towards the wall of the army was a large spiraling tornado filled with destructive force.

Simultaneously as the demoness released her spell, Ryo performed a series of hand signs before at last finishing his preparations. Sucking in a deep breath, he built up his demonic energy and was ready to unleash his attack at last.

In his mind, he screamed "Katon, Goukakyuu!"

Expelling from his mouth in a blazing flash was a massive orange fireball with the tail end flowing out of the dog demon's mouth. Moving towards the swirling tornado, the fireball merged with it. The result formed a massive towering tornado of flames that barely missed the edge of the wall surrounding the Southern Keep.

"That should do it." the dog mage stated as he quickly moved for cover just a barrage of arrows rained down on his position.

"It's your turn, Shippou." Iya called out.

Acknowledging the order with a nod and smirk on his face, the fox demon took off like a shot out of a cannon towards the outside of the earthen barrier. Launching himself high into the air as he pulled out both his red shield and naginata from his back, the red fox demon drew back his naginata as if ready to strike. Green flames licked the blade of the naginata when he swung it wide through the air.

"FOX FLAME BLADE!"

Flying away from the sweeping sword was a blade of jade colored demonic energy. Crashing into the defensive wall of the Southern Troops, the energy easily sliced through it. The wall immediately began collapsing. Those soldiers that were not hit by the blade but were close to or on the wall were caught in the rubble of the falling structure. Some died from the collapse, while others were merely trapped.

Watching the fox demon return behind the earthen wall, Grimmjow clenched his teeth together tightly to the point that they crackled under the intense pressure. Releasing his light blue colored demonic aura, he raised his right hand with his palm facing towards the wall.

"ENOUGH OF THESE GAMES! THAT WALL IS COMING DOWN!"

Crimson demonic energy suddenly danced around his outturned palm and swirled in a fierce manner around it. With a primal roar, he screamed out "CERO!"

Unleashed in a flash of crimson light, a beam of tightly formed demonic energy raced directly towards the wall of earth. The beam scored a hit, sending debris and dust flying into the air while the panther demon only laughed in triumph.

"What's so funny?"

A touch of shock filled the face of the general as the dust settled, revealing a wall of ice had been behind the wall of earth. The earth wall had withstood a portion of the blast, but the ice wall had taken the full brunt of the attack and stood still in pristine condition. It had a few minor chips missing from it's surface, but was otherwise unharmed.

Cracking a smirk as he glanced over at the dog hanyou, Ichigo smartly asked "Weren't you supposed to conserve power?"

Shrugging, Iya nonchalantly replied "I couldn't very well let us lose our cover, now could I?"

"Che, whatever. You were just showing off."

Angered further by the fact his attack hadn't gotten through, the panther demon yelled out loudly to his army "KILL THOSE BASTARDS!"

Marching forward, all of the army, excluding the archers, advanced on the earth and ice walls with their weapons drawn. Many mounted a charge and prepared to do battle with the group of seven behind the wall.

"Iya, proceed with your next phase. Our troops are arriving." Sesshomaru commanded.

Acknowledging his elder brother with a simple nod, Iya smoothly said "Understood."

Glancing at his long term partner, the hanyou called out "Let's go Ichigo."

"I'm with you." the quarter bobcat confirmed. Taking one last longing look at his mate, he mouthed the words "I love you" to her, only to receive the words mouthed back "I love you too."

Rushing out from behind the wall, the hanyou and quarter demon rushed forward towards the walls of the keep. As one, the pair launched high into the air so to bypass the wall, only to draw the fire of the archers perched on it.

"Katon: Gōryūka!"

Forming below the pair, a massive fiery dragon head that had a long mane incinerated all of the arrows that intended to take down the hanyou and quarter demon. Glancing down, the pair saw that it was the black haired dog mage that had launched the attack to protect them.

"DAMN IT YOU FOOLS, STOP THEM!" Grimmjow yelled.

"Sir, they're already into the courtyard. We have plenty of men there to stop them. Should we not focus on the Lord of the West instead of those two pieces of trash?" a nearby neko demon questioned.

Grinding his teeth, the panther demon harshly spat back "We must not let anyone into the Southern Keep. That is a standing order!"

Flinching back from the fierce tone of his general, the neko shrank back and nodded his head before meekly replying "Yes general sir."

"Take charge of the men in the courtyard and kill those two." the panther demon commanded one of the nearby neko demons. "The remainder of our forces will capture the Western Lord!"

000

000

Landing in the courtyard, Iya and Ichigo quickly found themselves surrounded by over a hundred demons that were brandishing their drawn weapons at the pair.

"Looks like we landed right in the middle of them." Ichigo smartly commented.

Scanning the demons that were in the area, Iya grunted out "We don't have time for this. Follow my lead."

Racing forward, the hanyou dodged several attacks meant to cut him down. Taking to the air once again, he soon landed on the outskirts of the group. Ducking a few more attackers, he made his way through the remainder of the crowd till he saw an open area. Sensing his partner was right behind him, he pressed on and pushed towards the massive wall of the keep.

"These guys sure won't take no for an answer." the quarter demon pointed out as he dodged several attackers that were attempting to skewer him from behind.

Inspecting the massive wall they were approaching, the dog hanyou spied a window about seven stories up that was completely open. "Ichigo, see that window. That's where we go in."

"You know where the hell that will put us?"

"Not specifically, but it's better than this courtyard." the hanyou pointed out.

Evading a few more attackers, the pair launched high into the air. Several spears were thrown at them, only to fall short and lodge into the stone of the keep. Using them as a springboard to push further up, the duo reached the window without fail and landed safely inside.

"Well, that was entertaining."

Rolling his eyes at his partner's sarcastic comments, Iya muttered "Just follow me."

000

000

Sensing the hanyou and her mate's auras getting further away and seemingly emanating from within the massive stone keep, Orihime threw a quick glance at the Lord of the West and nodded her head.

Receiving the mage's nod, the dog demon called out "Fall back."

Disengaging from their minor fights, the group of five demons made a quick retreat.

000

000

Viewing the five retreating forms, the neko demon next to the general declared "General Grimmjow, the enemy is in full retreat. Shall we now deal with the two pieces of trash that got into the keep?"

Gritting his teeth, the panther demon contemplated the question momentarily until he said "No, we go after the Lord of the West. He must be captured. That trash can be dealt with by the guards inside. It's time they earned their keep. Mobilize the troops and begin pursuit."

"Aye aye sir." the neko acknowledged. Yelling loudly towards the troops "Men, we are to pursue and capture the Lord of the West, Sesshomaru Taisho. The others are expendable, but Lord Sesshomaru must be captured! Move out!"

The troops in front of the massive defensive wall immediately mobilized and started to pursue their specified target. From behind and on top of the wall, the remaining troops joined in and fell in with their frontlines comrades.

000

000

Glancing behind himself, Shippou couldn't help but put on a wide childish grin. "They fell for it."

"Naturally they would. Iya thought of everything." Ryo remarked with a smirk on his face.

"Hn." was the only acknowledgment from Sesshomaru.

Finding the army in pursuit was trying desperately to keep up with them, Orihime softly smiled and said "It's amazing what he comes up with."

"Poppa, you never told me that he was so eloquent in planning such things." May commented.

Throwing a smile at his adopted daughter, the dog mage replied "He has always been a few steps ahead of everyone, even when you think he's falling behind. He almost always comes up with a way to make things work out."

"We're nearing the meeting place." the demon lord stated.

"Then let's show that general just what Iya has planned for them." the fox demon responded with a child like grin on his face.

000

000

Marching at the front of the legion and leading the group down the large road that led to the Eastern Castle was a group of nine, led by a tenth. Throwing a glance over his shoulder at the army following him, the Lord of the North inwardly felt his pride soar.

"_This ends today._"

Staring straight ahead, but keeping her senses tuned finely to the surrounding area, Lilly's emerald eyes slid over to Yoshe, who stood next to her. The demoness wore her traditional kimono that she had always had during their sparring sessions. To the neko, it seemed excessive, yet she never completely destroyed said kimono during their sessions.

Her gaze was met by the ice demoness for a mere moment before the two slightly smiled at one another. As one, the pair returned their vision ahead to the approaching sight of the massive Eastern Castle.

In the back of her mind, the neko began replaying the words of the wolf demon from earlier that morning.

"_Once we reach the Eastern Castle, we will need to create a path for Yoshe, Lilly, and Inuyasha so that they can enter into the castle and complete their missions. To do this, I want Tsunade and Kagome to create the pathway. Your twin attacks should open up the way for them long enough that they can make their way to the castle. Whatever you three do, conserve your powers until you reach your targets. I have no doubt each of you will need all the power you can get just to defeat your opponents and make it out without life threatening injuries._"

"_Tsunade and Kagome will then fall to the rear of the group once we have made an entryway for those three. Your responsibilities are to remain safe and take care of the wounded. Do what you must to keep enough power to yourselves so that you can complete this task. We will defend the wounded best we can, but if you must, do protect them._"

The words of the wolf demon were still fresh in her mind as she continued down the road. "_We will defeat the Eastern Lord, no matter what. And then, Yoshe and I will return to our mates. At all costs, we cannot fail to keep that promise between us. No matter what it takes, we will return home to our mates._"

Nearing the castle at last, the army spotted another army standing at the ready in front of the castle with the general of the Eastern Lands before it. His face was set in stone, as if nothing bothered him at all.

"It's just like the scouts said, they brought in reinforcements." Kouga commented. Throwing a cocky grin over his shoulder to the neko hanyou and ice demoness, he added "No worries though, we'll punch our way through."

Returning his attention ahead, the wolf demon hardened his aqua colored eyes and declared to the army behind him "Do not hold back in this battle. We will repay the Eastern Lands for all the atrocities that they have committed. Fight for those that you left in the Northern and Western Lands and remember all that those before you have sacrificed. Remember what we fight for and do not hesitate. We are soldiers of the Northern and Western Lands, and we will not be denied the justice that we deserve."

As one, the entire legion and it's commanders replied in a thunderous roar "Yes sir!"

Many of the soldiers on both sides were quick to draw their weapons, while some merely flexed their claws and readied for the upcoming battle.

Without warning, Tsunade and Kagome broke rank and charged forward towards the enemy lines. The blonde buxom drew both her arms up in front of herself as light blue demonic energy started swirling around each of her hands. Smashing her fists together, she came to a skidding stop as raw power seemed to emanate from her entire being.

Gruffly, the demoness snarled out "Doton, Bursting Gaia Crusher!"

Cocking her right arm behind herself, the demoness shot it forward and smashed her fist with tremendous force into the ground before herself. The ground itself morphed immediately upon being struck. Rising up out of the ground in a straight line towards the opposing army was a massive column of jagged rocks. Each rock that rose up from the ground next seemed to increase in size compared to the prior one behind it. The attack smashed straight through the enemy lines, sending several demons flying and killing many others, as well as severely wounding others.

Drawing her sword from it's sheath quickly, Kagome initiated it's transformation. In a split second, the small katana had morphed into a large halberd that resembled a fang and had a pink fur guard. Purple and pink auras flared up and down the blade, the two seemingly swirling together and coexisting with each other.

With a mighty swing, the miko hanyou yelled out "Junshin Arainami!"

Launching off of the sweeping blade of the hanyou was a beam of purple and pink swirling energy in the shape of an arrow. The spiraling energy struck some of the demons that had been spared from the previous attack and shredded right through them. Purifying energy from the pink aura of the arrow turned many of the demons to dust while the purple demonic energy overpowered many of the others and killed them easily. The spiraling energy cut a clean pathway right next to the rock formations that had been created by the buxom and left a wide area open.

"Go!" Kouga ordered.

Moving at top speed and appearing as mere flashes to untrained eyes, Lilly, Yoshe, and Inuyasha rushed forward towards the cleared area. Not sparing a single glance back, the three raced onwards towards the towering castle in the distance.

Several demons attempted to launch an attack on the three, only to have their attention redrawn towards the blonde buxomness that launched yet another powerful earth shattering attack. Not to be left out, the miko hanyou released several arrows of pure miko energy that turned many demons to ash upon contact. At the same time, she followed up with just as many spiraling blasts of purple demonic energy which tore the enemy apart.

"_Good luck you three._" the Northern Lord whispered in his mind as he prepared for the counterattack he knew was coming. "Engage the enemy and give no quarter!"

All at once, the demons behind the Northern Lord charged forward and ready to engage their enemies in battle. As they did, the wolf demon vanished into thin air and suddenly reappeared behind the bat demon general.

"General Ulquiorra Cifer."

"Lord Kouga."

Turning to face the wolf demon with an unchanged expression, the bat demon curtly said "You managed to invade the Eastern Lands. Tell me how you escaped detection."

"Now, now general, you know I can't give away such trade secrets. However, you and I have business, now don't we?"

Mouth quirking into a small smile, the bat demon remarked "Indeed we do. I had imagined that it would be Lord Sesshomaru that would invade the Eastern Lands and do battle with myself. To say I am disappointed would not quite sum up my feelings of the situation. Still, to face one of the Lords of the Four Lands in battle is an honor."

Giving a cocky grin, the wolf demon replied "Don't get ahead of yourself. Let's change venue first, seeing how we're a bit constricted by this battlefield."

"Very well, lead the way, Lord Kouga."

Vanishing in a flash, the wolf demon felt the wind rushing by him as he raced away from the battlefield. Soon enough, he reappeared in a large field that was abandoned and a few miles away from the assault on the Eastern Castle. Not far away from himself stood the stoic bat demon with his arms crossed.

"I take it this is to your liking, Lord Kouga?"

Scanning the terrain momentarily, Kouga replied with a nod and said "It is. Before we begin, I have a question for you. Why have you betrayed your master's instructions? I understood that hot head Grimmjow's reasoning, seeing how he was always an idiot and had a blood lust that could not be sated. But you, you were similar to Neliel, so why betray the ways of your master?"

Closing his emerald eyes, Ulquiorra slowly reopened them to reveal they much colder eyes to the wolf demon. "My master's ways were truly unique, and I am thankful for all that he taught me. However, he chose to be blind to what happened within the world. I left Neliel several years after the death of our master. When I entered into the world, I discovered it did not even try to strive towards peace, but rather craved it's own destruction. I spent many years searching Japan in hopes that I would find those that sought peace like my master had hoped. Some did, but many chose greed over the peace."

"That is why I could no longer remain idle in the world, for if someone did not intervene, it would destroy itself. I did not come to this conclusion lightly. It took many years of discernment and reasoning before I came to this realization. For the time being afterwards, I dedicated myself into figuring out how to bring about such changes. In the end, I decided to ally myself with one of the Four Lands, but which was difficult to decide, seeing how all had corruption within their own lands. I decided at long last to join the Eastern Lands, but only after Lord Sasuke had taken over. He was beginning anew and had vision to unite his lands, unlike Yomi who wished to merely exploit them."

"You do realize Lord Sasuke's ambition is that of Lord Aikamaru's, right?" Kouga questioned.

Lightly chuckling, the bat demon replied "Of course I do. Know this, Lord Sasuke will shake off the shackles of Lord Aikamaru's ambitions soon enough and take to his own. He has a dream of uniting these four lands and making them even greater than any other in the history of the world. The only thing that stands in his way is the stubborn ignorance of the Western and Northern Lands, as well as Lord Aikamaru's ambition. But those will not be obstacles for long."

Clenching his hands into tight fists, the wolf demon replied "I wouldn't count on it. I'm going to stop you here and now, so don't assume I'll let you and those two have your way. Too many have died to let that happen."

"It is useless. You cannot stop fate, Lord Kouga."

"And you can't stop me, so let's just get to where I pummel you!"

Taking up a fighting stance, the wolf demon flexed his claws a few times. Eyeing the bat demon who stood completely the still, he inwardly growled at the calm and nonchalant demeanor of his opponent.

"_I have to be careful. The reports I received on him spoke highly of him. He's not only skilled at hand to hand combat, but highly skilled with a sword also. Then there is that troublesome Cero attack that can bring down even the strongest demons. I can't underestimate him. To have survived training with former Lord Yamamoto, he has to have great strength. That would put him in a class near that of us four lords. Still, I cannot lower my guard._"

Growing impatient with his opponent's unmoving stance, Kouga sank down deeper into his stance and vanished in a swirl of dust. Moving at a speed that a normal human could not comprehend, he reached the bat demon and attempted to land a punch to the stoic demon's face. He was instead blocked and forced to duck a mighty kick meant to take his head off.

The two immediately went into a high speed match, with each launching punches and kicks at the other, only to have both block their offending attacks. Backing away from each other, the pair suddenly charged each other with their fists cocked back. Simultaneously, the pair threw their fists forward at the other. At the exact moment, the two caught said punches, each gripping the other's tightly.

Launching a kick at the wolf demon with his right leg, the bat demon's eyes were unchanged as it was caught. A moment passed before the wolf demon's grip tightened on the leg he held back and pulled the bat into a swinging motion. Slamming his left hand onto the ground so as to regain his balance, the pale skinned demon used his momentum to throw a kick at the wolf. In a split second, the demon lord let go of his opponent and darted out of the way of the kick.

Several rapid fists fired in the direction of the wolf as he managed to dodge the kick, forcing him to protect his body with his arms. Just as one made it past his arms, the wolf demon pushed off and retreated a short distance away, but didn't stay away for long. He quickly reengaged the fight, his fists flying in a fury as he did so. Each and every punch was blocked by the bat demon, with exception of one.

The one that managed to slip through landed square in Ulquiorra's left cheek and sent him skidding backwards. A small trickle of blood slid down from the corner of his mouth and onwards to his chin before dripping to the ground.

Letting out a light chuckle as he reached his right fist up to wipe away the blood, the bat demon smoothly said "Congratulations Lord Kouga. You have drawn first blood."

"Yeah, well it looks like that was actually a draw."

Dripping to the ground in soft spatters from his right hand was a trace of blood. Glancing down at his hand, the wolf demon quickly returned his vision to his opponent.

"_Damn his skin is so tough. Yamamoto taught his three apprentices a technique to harden their skin for battle, making it essentially armor that never could be taken off. What was it he called their skin once it hardened?_"

A moment passed before the information he sought surfaced in his mind. "_Hierro. That was what he called it. Neliel was a master at using it. The few times she sparred with me I got a demonstration on just how tough it was. It was so tough that I nearly broke both hands just punching her, as well as my legs. The kicker was she didn't feel a thing from me. Lucky for me that I've improved since then, but even now, Ulquiorra's skin is obviously tougher than I would have anticipated. Just that one hit broke the skin on my knuckles. From here on, I'll have to attack differently than before._"

Brought out of his thoughts by the sound of a sword sliding from it's sheath, the wolf demon suppressed a gasp of surprise when he noticed the bat demon had his sword out of it's sheath and in front of him.

"You drew your sword? Does that mean you think I'm worthy to fight you?"

Evenly, the pale skinned demon answered "Most definitely you are worthy of drawing my sword, Lord Kouga. I knew you would be an opponent that I could not put off using my sword against. However, I wished to enjoy a small warm up match before we proceeded. Tell me, did you enjoy yourself in our brief sparring session?"

"It was decent enough." the wolf demon admitted. "Now for the main event."

Holding out his right arm as golden demonic energy poured over his right hand, Kouga concentrated his energy in the hand. The energy soon vanished to reveal a set of sharp curved steel claws now attacked to his fingers that measured about a foot long each. Each claw had a small chain that reached back to a gauntlet that went around the wolf demon's wrist, seemingly keeping each one in place.

Eyeing the weapon on the demon lord's right hand, Ulquiorra coolly asked "That is the weapon known as Goraishi, is it not?"

Sweeping his claws through the air and moving them into a ready position with his right arm pulled back a bit, Kouga answered "Yeah, that's right. This is a weapons that I earned from my ancestors of the wolf demon tribe. I'd watch out when I wield this, if I was you."

"Empty threats do not bother me."

"Then maybe my claws digging through you will!" Kouga declared as he vanished in a flash.

Raising his blade, the bat demon managed to catch the incoming swipe at his head with his katana. Steel grinding filled the air as the clawed blades and the sword pushed against one another in a ploy for dominance. Neither gave an inch, with neither demon willing to back down from the other.

At last, the pair broke apart, but not before the wolf demon shot forward like a rocket. He again tried to take off the bat demon's head with his claws, only to again be parried. Pushing on one another, the pair's arms shook as both pushed their full weight into trying to overtake the other.

Adjusting his attack so that he pushed back his opponent's blade with a shower of sparks from the two blades meeting, Kouga pressed the attack and slashed out repeatedly at the bat demon.

Showing no emotion as he parried each attack or dodged them, the bat demon suddenly disappeared. He soon resurfaced behind the wolf demon and started a series of languished stabbing motions. Each was parried by his opponent, but he did not let up in his attempt to wound the wolf demon.

Shooting a front kick at the head of the wolf demon, the general's eyes widened as he watched his opponent vanish. Emerald eyes slid to his right immediately and he threw his sword up to parry a downward slash meant to take his arm off. Without even looking directly at the demon lord, he pointed towards his opponent with his left index finger. Green demonic energy flared around the finger and began collecting in a round like shape.

Gasping in shock when he realized what was about to happen, the wolf demon leapt backwards just as a beam of emerald demonic energy fired his direction. The beam widened after leaving the bat demon's finger and had an elliptical shape to it. With only milliseconds to spare, he evaded the beam and put some distance between himself and the general.

"_Shit, that was close. If I was a second later, I'd have taken the brunt of that attack._"

"Oh? You dodged my Cero?"

Shaken from his thoughts by the question, if not statement, the wolf demon smirked as a little bit of sweat rolled down the side of his face. "Yeah, I dodged it. Have a problem with it?"

"Not at all." Ulquiorra responded evenly. "It's not surprising that you would. Tell me, Lord Kouga, do you know about Cero?"

"It's an attack that Yamamoto taught his three apprentices."

"Correct." the bat demon curtly remarked. "However, many demons know the secret to firing off Cero, though their Ceros are different from our own. The Cero that my former master taught myself and my fellow disciples has far more power. I have seen others use Cero, yet none even compare to our Ceros. Do you use Cero, Lord Kouga?"

Spitting off to the side, the wolf demon retorted "I have no need for that shit."

Unchanged by the words of his opponent, the general smoothly said "Perhaps it is for the best that you do not try to use it. It would be shameful to use a technique that you cannot grasp."

Holding his right hand up and calling forth the golden energy of his weapon, Kouga grit out "I think I've had enough of your question and answer session. Let's just get back to this fight. We're both busy men after all."

Pouring out even more demonic energy as he raised his clawed hand, the wolf demon slashed straight downwards with it. Golden energy mixed in with light blue lightning shot forward towards the unemotional bat demon.

Raising his left hand and pointing his index finger at the oncoming onslaught, the pale skinned demon fired a beam of emerald colored energy from the finger that met the oncoming attack head on.

Smashing into one another, the two attacks struggled against each other for nearly a half a minute until the two finally succumbed to one another and dissipated.

"_He blocked it with his Cero. I didn't put my full power into that attack, but he blocked it seemingly effortlessly. Damn, now what am I going to do. I know he's still not serious, though nor am I, but this is going to get messy and quick. I need to end this as quick as possible._"

Charging forward in a blur, the wolf demon slashed out at his opponent with his metal clawed hand. Parried, he struggled against the blade of the bat demon before pushing it aside and tried to dig his claws into his opponent's chest. Watching his enemy lean back to avoid the attack, he pushed forward and went on the offensive with a series of high speed slashes. Sparks rained from the two blades clashing, along with the sound of steel ringing throughout the area as the two again and again struck at one another.

Ducking a kick meant to take off his head, the wolf demon slashed out, only to watch his opponent flip out of the way and take to the air. Eyes narrowing when he saw the bat demon vanish, he was quick to take several steps backwards. Cocking his head to side to dodge a stab meant to impale him, the wolf demon avoided several more high speed slashes by simply shifting his body or head.

Softly gasping when he saw the bat demon vanish again and reappear behind him, the demon lord turned to intercept. Instead of smashing his blade into his opponent's sword, he was met by thin air.

"_Shit, behind me!_" Kouga realized just as he felt a blade cut through his armor like it didn't exist on his back. Blood spurted from the shallow wound and splattered to the ground in a sickening sloshing sound.

Vanishing and reappearing several feet away and panting lightly, the wolf demon glared at the pale skinned general. Gritting his teeth as he felt blood leaking down his back and legs before falling harmlessly to the ground, he hardened his eyes and let a small smirk play upon his face.

"Not bad, not bad at all there General Ulquiorra."

Not receiving a response, the wolf demon inhaled a deep breath and closed his aqua colored eyes for a few seconds. "_His speed increased for just a moment there. I need to quit holding back. At this rate, he may seriously injure me and I can't risk that. I was hoping not to need to pull out more power, but at this rate, I can't keep holding back._"

Reopening his eyes to reveal a hardened pair, he flexed his right hand momentarily. The steel blades that made up the claws he had on his right hand rattled slightly from what he did. Letting a small smirk form on his face, the wolf demon quietly said "Prepare yourself."

Watching the wolf demon vanish in a whirlwind, Ulquiorra tracked him as his opponent suddenly began circling him at a high rate of speed, so fast that it was kicking up a trail of dust that made formed what looked like a wall.

"Hurry up and come."

Cracking another smirk, the wolf demon replied "As you wish!"

Suddenly appearing low beneath the bat demon, the wolf landed a kick with his left leg into his opponent's chin, sending him sailing upwards. Falling back onto his hands for leverage, he pushed off into the air and launched into a series of kicks to the midsection of the bat demon. A few of the kicks were blocked by the forearms of his adversary, but many of them landed direct hits into his opponent's body. Each sent the pale skinned demon higher and higher into the sky.

Flipping his body over mid-air, the demon lord reached out and took hold of the bat demon's dangling leg and began whirling him around through the air at tremendous speed. At last, he flung his opponent at the ground.

Midway down from the power packed attack from his opponent, the bat demon righted himself and landed on the ground. Flashing angry eyes upwards, he raised his left hand with green demonic energy dancing around it. Firing in a flash was a massive beam of demonic energy. The sheer size and power behind the beam was the most it had been throughout the battle.

Not hesitating, the wolf demon slashed out at the oncoming beam with his right hand. The beam soon engulfed him completely, hiding him from view for a few long moments. Slowly, the energy receded to reveal an unharmed demon lord with a hard expression on his face.

Grunting at the results of the blast, the bat demon backed away as the wolf came flying in to try and attack him. Taking to the air and seemingly levitating, he stared down the demon lord before letting out a light sigh.

"It seems I will have to resort to releasing my zanpakutō."

Using his trademark smirk, Kouga heartily replied "Serves you right for underestimating me."

"Oh, I have not underestimated you. I knew you were powerful. Yet, I wished not to take this battle to this extreme. However, I have no choice in the matter any longer. That last Cero was the most powerful one I can muster without releasing my zanpakutō."

Raising his blade and pointing it at the wolf demon, he smoothly said "Enclose, Murciélago."

**Thanks everyone for reading the chapter. Now, if you could do me a kind favor and review to let me know what you think of the chapter, I'd appreciate it. Till next time!**


	15. Chapter 15: The Difference

**Hey gang! Been a pretty nice last week or so, other than being quite busy at work. We're getting ready to push a release out to our websites and I'm kind of the last piece that is waiting to be finished up. I'm nearly done, so all good. House stuff is fun still yet. We went to the bank last Thursday and filled out paperwork for it, but Closing isn't until May sometime. Other than that, I discovered I have poison ivy, I think. Sadly, I had no medicine for it till yesterday, however, when I put it on, it went crazy and spread. I'm thinking something screwy with that and am going to try something else. Just irritating that the opposite effect happened.**

**Writing wise, things are moving along somewhat nicely. I take spurts where I write like crazy, then other days I can't get motivated to do any writing. But not to fear, I will finish this story up.**

**Thanks as always to Kattana and auronsword for your reviews. Also a big thanks to my beta reader, mcsnellies, who has been great at keeping motivated also.**

**To anyone who does want to review, I do encourage you to. I know I say it every chapter, but feedback is great. Any to know where I stand on my writing. I'm sure everyone is tired of hearing such things, but it's definitely helpful to a developing writer. I want to continue to grow, but to grow, I need to know what I'm doing right and what I'm doing wrong. But whatever. I've beat a dead horse long enough on it, so from hence forth, take it as you please.**

**I hope everyone likes this chapter. Till next time, enjoy!**

**Meanings for certain words:**

_**Ama-no-Murakumo-no-Tsurugi = **__**Sword of the Gathering Clouds of Heaven**_

**Chapter 15**

Finding the five targets fleeing into a ravine, Grimmjow grinned widely and declared "We've nearly got them! There aren't any exits down in that ravine."

To the general and his troops surprise, the five suddenly came rushing back out from the ravine with a massive amount of troops following in their wake. The troops from the Western Lands poured out and swarmed towards the oncoming soldiers. Many of the Southern Troops turned and backpedaled, but it was too late as more soldiers poured out from the wood line.

"It was a trap..." Grimmjow growled. Flashing angry light blue eyes at the Lord of the Western Lands, the panther demon snarled out "You bastards!"

Charging forward sword drawn, the panther smirked as the Western Lord broke ranks to meet him head on. The two blades clashed against one another with sparks raining down in a shower from the intense exchange.

Unchanged by his opponent's ferocity, the dog demon parried a sudden slash meant to take his head off. The two swords rattled against one another for a moment before the pair pulled away from each other.

"I've always wanted to fight you, Lord of the West, Sesshomaru Taisho. Even now with this battle going on, I could give a shit since you are my opponent." Grimmjow stated.

Evenly, Sesshomaru replied "This battle is over. Order your troops to stand down."

"Not a chance in hell!"

Raising his blade up to parry an incoming attack from his adversary, the dog demon pushed away the panther demon and slashed out. The two blades clashed again with the sound of steel ringing out from the intense exchange between them.

As one, the pair vanished and reappeared high above the battlefield. Their blades were locked for a moment before the two separated a short distance apart, only to come back together in a flurry of fast moving slashes and parries. The intense exchange was so fast that many on the ground couldn't help but gasp at the speed of both the general and demon lord.

Pushing apart at last, the two stared each other down midair. Wordlessly, the dog demon turned away and retreated from the battle.

Visibly hesitating for less than a second, the panther gave pursuit and followed after the demon lord. After only a short five minutes of traveling by air, the two landed on the ground in a small clearing.

"I guess this change of venue works." the panther demon grunted out.

"Hn."

Smirking, Grimmjow added "At least here I can focus all my attention on you, Lord Sesshomaru."

Not bothering to acknowledge the statement, Sesshomaru charged forward and struck out at the panther. The two blades met in a flurry of sparks and ringing steel. Grinding their blades against one another, the pair split apart and sized each other up.

Racing forward headlong and not caring at the moment for his responsibilities, the panther demon went on the attack. Slash after slash, the pair continued to increase their speed and strength. Each attack was stronger than the last from both, along with the intensity and ferocity.

Dodging a stab and countering, the Lord of the West stared evenly at the panther general's face. "Surrender."

Bursting out loud in fits of laughter as he backed away, Grimmjow smirked widely. "Me, surrender! Ha, that's my line. You have no idea what you're up against."

"This Sesshomaru is well aware of whom your master was. You cannot win against this Sesshomaru."

Grinning widely as he charged forward, the panther demon slammed his blade into the demon lord's with all his might. "We'll see about that one! Die!"

Charging up crimson demonic energy his free left hand, Grimmjow reached forward to place it directly in the chest of the dog demon. Before he could release it, the demon lord retreated. Not having any of it, the panther fired his crimson energy in the form of a tight inverted cone shape.

Skidding to a stop and bringing his blade in front of himself, the dog demon struck out at the beam with his sword, cutting the beam in half in the process.

"That's more like it!" Grimmjow declared with a light cackle. Stabbing his blade into the ground, he nicked his index and middle fingers. Raising his right arm up and bracing it with his left hand, he turned his palm towards the dog demon as light blue demonic energy formed into a sphere within his hand, but had several lightning like bolts spraying out from it.

Smirking evilly, the panther yelled out "This is a Cero that my master only taught his disciples. Gran Rey Cero!"

Flaring forth in a massive blast of light blue demonic energy, the blast shot straight for an emotionless dog demon. Raising his blade up, the dog demon slashed out at the attack. A massive explosion ensued from the meeting of the blade and energy, covering the results of the attack. Slowly, the blast receded to reveal an unharmed dog demon and smoke pouring off his sword.

"So that had no effect too, eh?" Grimmjow stated as a psychotic grin formed his face. All at once, he let out loud laughter and threw his head back. "You don't disappoint! It's about time to get down to business!"

Reaching out and taking hold of his sword once again, the panther demon grinned widely as he brought it up to his left side using his right hand. Hand flexed into a claw like shape, he touched the cold steel lightly as it began glowing with light blue demonic energy. At the same time, his own light blue demonic aura roared around his body, sending dust flying and the grass in the area swaying.

Drawing back his left hand in a quick motion as he ran his claws against the blade, the panther proudly declared "Grind Pantera!"

Dust and smoke enveloped the panther immediately, hiding him from the dog demon's view completely. Senses remaining sharp, he waited patiently as the smoke and dust continue to envelope the area. Bit by the bit, the dust settled and the smoke cleared out to reveal the panther once more to the world.

Standing in a hunched over position with a dark smirk on his face was the panther demon, but in a new form. His short spiky light blue hair was now trailed down to his calves in length. Green and light blue fur covered cat ears replaced his normal pointed ears. The jagged jaw bone that had been on his right cheek was gone, but a new bone like forehead protector covered his forehead. A tight form fitting white body suit covered his entire body, with exception where it opened half way down his chest to reveal the top of it. It ran up to around his neck and had a black collar that flared out like his previous kimono top had. His hands were black and his claws more pronounce, as well his feet were now shaped more like a cats with claws sticking out. On his forearms up to his elbows were curved dual blades, with a notch in between them. Two blades formed the same way on his calves. Flicking out from behind him was a three to four foot long tail.

Grinning darkly as he stood up straight, the panther demon released a mighty roar. The roar itself caused a shockwave to race in front of him and ripped up the already damaged ground, sending debris and dust flying.

Vanishing in a flash, the panther was suddenly behind the dog demon. Smirking, he launched a clawed hand at the back of his opponent, intent on inflicting serious damage.

Instead, the dog demon flashed away and turned to face his adversary. "So that is your Resurrección form. It has power, but lacks the amount needed to kill this Sesshomaru."

"Don't think too highly of yourself, Lord Sesshomaru. I'm just getting started in your destruction." the panther brashly replied.

Crouching down to his haunches, the panther leapt forward with speed higher than he had shown all battle. In a flash, he was slashing out at the dog demon's chest with his sharp claws. Instead, he was parried by the demon lord's blade, the contact sending out a shower of sparks from the intense strike.

Again and again, the panther struck out at his opponent, claws intent on cutting through him. But each time the two made contact, neither side inflicted damage to the other.

Leaping backwards and into the air with a distance of thirty feet between them, the panther shot his right elbow forward and revealed five curved green blades from a section of plating around his arm. With a victorious smirk on his face as he slammed his left fist into his right hand, he yelled "Take this!"

Launching from the elbow of the panther immediately were the five green blades. The blades flew straight towards the stationary demon lord with a trail of smoke following in their wake. Spreading out, the five came spiraling in towards the dog demon in a star like pattern. At the last moment, the dog demon deflected the five with his sword, sending them harmlessly crashing into a set of trees nearby. Upon embedding into each tree, the five curved blades exploded, sending a spray of splinters and chunks of wood flying throughout the battlefield. The ensuing wind from the blast sent the hair of the dog demon swaying back and forth for a few moments until it settled.

Gritting his teeth and lowly growling, Grimmjow ran headlong towards the dog demon at top speed. Slashing and swiping wildly at the demon lord, the panther grew even angrier as his adversary simply dodged or parried his onslaught. Each blow was faster than the last and soon reached the point that only those with similar speed could watch.

"Is this the extent of your power, Sesshomaru? Just speed that's only good for dodging!" an irate general yelled.

Suddenly grasping hold of the panther's right wrist as he was trying to stab Sesshomaru in the gut, the dog demon squeezed tightly and pushed the panther backwards. With a wide arcing swing, the katana of the dog demon penetrated a few inches through the thick skin of the panther's chest like a hot knife through butter. Blood spurted out from the wound in a spray instantly.

Falling back and grasping the wound on his chest with wide eyes, Grimmjow panted lightly as he felt the blood still pour down from his wound.

"Do not address this Sesshomaru informally again. If you do not know your place, this Sesshomaru shall teach it."

Shaking the blood off of his sword, the dog demon added "It is useless to continue. This Sesshomaru will grant you a quick death if you surrender."

Grinding his teeth together as anger clouded his eyes, the panther demon leapt backwards several feet and raised his right arm up. Pointing the palm of his hand towards the demon lord, he started gathering jet black demonic energy swirling with light blue demonic energy. The energy continued to build as a sheen of sweat became visible on the panther's face, with several drops sliding down the sides of it.

"I've had enough of this game! I'll show you the true power of our Cero! Die knowing you forced me to use my Cero Oscuras!"

With a throaty roar, the panther demon released the jet black and light blue swirling demonic energy into a high density beam. The beam was much wider than his previous crimson beam and had a larger element of destruction to it. As it roared across the ground of the clearing, it dug a five foot deep and twenty foot wide trench.

Not shaken by the oncoming attack, Sesshomaru stood his ground. Slowly, he drew his Bakusaiga up over his head with only his right hand. In a smooth flowing motion, he slashed downwards and launched a beam of powerful teal colored demonic energy.

The two beams smashed into one another with tremendous force. They fought for domination of one another, but the clear winner was already shown in the opening of the battle. Only a few seconds passed before the teal demonic energy overpowered the weaker black and light blue beam. Surging onwards towards the panther, the energy picked up speed only to slam into the ground at the feet of the panther demon and send him skidding backwards.

Eyes wide from the shock of seeing his attack defeated, the panther general suddenly became enraged even further than before. Clenching his hands into tight fists until his claws dug into his palms and broke the skin, he began shaking with anger. Flashing angered eyes up to meet cold amber eyes, he let out a deep growl.

"Don't give me that look. Those eyes, they mock me... I'm so damn sick of those eyes! Those damn eyes look down upon me!" the panther roared. "All of you damn lords do the same thing! You look down on me and think you're better, but I have news for each and every one of you! I'll crush every last person that looks down on me!"

Flying high into the air with his claws glowing a light blue color, he brought his hands before his body and downwardly slashed with both. At the same time, long trails of light blue demonic energy taking the form of long blades formed in the air, with five on each hand, one for each finger. Drawing back his arms, the panther smiled and let out a loud laugh.

Sneering at his opponent, Grimmjow proudly said "Desgarrón. My ultimate technique."

Floating a little higher as he pulled back his left arm, the panther slashed downwards towards the dog demon. In doing so, he sent the solidified energy claws towards his opponent with intentions of finishing him.

Raising his blade up so that the broad side faced the claws and bracing it with his left hand, the dog demon took the five claws head on. Each of the energy claws slammed into the blade of his sword and sent him skidding backwards from the impact. The sheer power of the attack shot sparks out from the contact between the blades and the sword.

All at once, the demon lord dug his feet in and brought his skidding to a stop. Building up the teal colored aura around his blade, he swung it away and shot a blast of teal energy through each of the claws. The teal energy shattered the energy claws easily and sent their remains raining down onto the ground.

"This Sesshomaru told you it is futile."

Infuriated by the words of his opponent, the panther launched the second set of energy claws with an insane roar filling the air.

Unfazed by the attack heading towards him and not willing to stand idly by, the dog demon charged forward and sliced his sword through the air. A beam of teal energy shot straight ahead and blew apart the claws as they ground against one another. Even after the claws vanished, the demon lord continued towards a shocked panther general.

Sweeping his powerful blade through the air, Sesshomaru effortlessly cleaved the left arm of Grimmjow off. A scream of agony and pain filled the air along with the sloshing sound of blood pouring out onto the ground.

"Damn you, Sesshomaru..." Grimmjow growled out as he started to fall from the air.

With a single swing of his sword, the dog demon declared "This Sesshomaru warned you not to be so informal with him. Perish."

As the blade was swung through the air, a beam of teal energy shot forward and engulfed the panther demon completely. The pure power radiating from the attack made the air seem several times heavier than it actually was. All traces of the panther general vanished quickly as the beam disintegrated his body completely.

Landing back on the ground and flicking all the blood of the panther off of his sword, the dog demon sheathed the blade and turned back to face the crater that had been formed from his attack that destroyed his opponent.

"Pathetic."

With that said, the dog demon turned on his toes and strode back towards the battle between the Western and Southern forces.

000

000

"Out of our way!" Inuyasha screamed as he was approaching two guards in a small corridor. Neither guard paid any heed to him, prompting the hanyou to slam a fist in each of their faces to move them. Immediately, a few more guards poured into the hallway, each armed with spears.

Gritting her teeth as she laid her hand on the hilt of her blade, Lilly grunted out "We're getting nowhere with this."

"Agreed. We need to find a much quicker route." Yoshe remarked. In a deadpan voice, she added "And us being a bit more discrete could be beneficial."

Throwing a glare at his eldest brother's mate, the silver haired hanyou snapped back "I would love to be more quiet, but each of these damn guards are so annoying!"

Rolling her eyes at her brother-in-law, the neko hanyou replied "Try not to bite our heads off, Inuyasha. We'll find a way through."

"Feh."

Attention returning to the incoming guards, the neko quickly made short work of them with a chop to the back of their heads. With their last obstacles cleared, the three raced down the hallway. At the end of it, they came into a large rotunda area.

"You three made it this far." a calm voice stated.

Searching feverishly, the three soon found the owner of the voice perched on a ledge above a doorway that led further into the castle. The voice's owner was a lion demon that had spiky sandy blonde hair. Pointed ears poked out from some of the dull gold locks. His light blue eyes scanned the three for a moment before he stood up. The clothing he wore was a black top that had no sleeve on the right arm, but fully covered his left, however was loose at the ending of it. A high collar rose up from the top and a tight black glove covered each hand. On his left shoulder was a thick black shoulder pad that had a silver lion crest that jutted out and a set of straps that hooked to the pad and kept it firmly attached to his shoulder. Wrapped around his lower waist was a long black battle skirt that only covered his left leg and reached his ankle in length. He wore black pants and a set of black boots. Strapped to his back was a long silver blade that was as long as his own body and almost two foot wide. The sword itself had a large red wrapped hilt that seemed to be worn.

Leaping from his perch to the ground and landing gracefully, the lion demon regarded the three for several seconds. Faintly smiling, he said "Welcome back to the Eastern Castle, Lady Lilly. I see you brought Lord Inuyasha and Lady Yoshe with you."

Tensing visibly as her hand fell to the hilt of Kimi instinctively, Lilly smoothly replied "I had a feeling we would run into you before the end of the day, Cloud."

"Where are my manners. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Cloud Strife, personal bodyguard of Lord Sasuke Uchiha, the ruler of the Eastern Lands."

Releasing a small sigh, he added "I wish you had no intruded upon our lands, Lady Lilly. I have no ill will towards you or your mate. However, it appears you and your comrades intend on continuing to roam freely throughout the Eastern Castle, and I cannot allow that."

Gently as possible, the neko hanyou softly said "Cloud, you could let us by. There is no reason for you to have to fight us."

"I cannot do that. To do so would bring shame upon my clan. Every Lord of the Eastern Lands has been protected by the Strife Clan. We take pride in this fact, and not a single one of us has failed at our duty in protecting the Lord of the East. Many have sacrificed their lives for this honor. I myself was selected to do so, and I trust that one day my children will have the same honor that I do. Nothing you say can make me disobey my duty."

About to speak, the neko was cut off as Inuyasha stepped forward and gruffly said "It's no use Lilly. It's obvious his mind is made up and that his duty comes first."

Throwing a look over his shoulder at the pair, he calmly said "You two go on. I'll take care of this."

"Inuyasha ..." Lilly began, but was cut off by a comforting hand on her shoulder. Finding it was Yoshe's, the neko nodded her head and firmly said "Don't forget that Kagome is out there waiting for you."

"Yeah I haven't." the dog hanyou remarked with a small smirk forming as he returned his vision back ahead to the lion demon. "I'll take care of things here. You two get going."

Throwing their brother-in-law a set of smiles, the neko hanyou and ice demoness nodded their heads and took off towards the doorway that was on the far side of the rotunda.

"I cannot permit the two of you to leave." Cloud declared as he quickly moved towards the same doorway.

Before he could reach it, a flash of red caught his eye and forced him to retreat a short ways in order to avoid a set of slashing claws. Finding they belonged to the dog hanyou, the lion demon reached up for his sword's hilt and let out a light grunt.

"I'm your opponent. If you want to fight, come at me." Inuyasha announced.

Watching the two figures of the women vanishing into the corridor he had been protecting, the lion demon cursed under his breath and muttered "Do not be stubborn."

"I won't let you have your way. If you want to chase after them, then you'll have to defeat me first." the hanyou brashly said. Quickly drawing his sword from it's sheath, he revealed the rusty blade to the lion demon with a smirk. In a flash, the sword glowed with a white demonic aura and transformed into a large halberd that was shaped similarly to a fang with a guard of white fur on the end.

Staring at the transformed sword, Cloud smoothly said "This is my first time in seeing the Fang of Destruction, the Tetsusaiga. I must admit, the tales of it do it no justice. Only seeing it live lets one grasp the feeling of what the sword can do."

Reaching up and pulling his own sword from behind his back, the lion demon brought it before himself with both hands holding it. The blade of the sword seemed to have numerous intricate cuts made into it, making it seem like a jigsaw puzzle put together, but made of steel.

"I have no quarrel with you, Inuyasha Taisho. I must however retrieve those two women before they do something foolish. Stand down and I will try to ensure that you live."

Raising his blade up and moving one foot forward, the hanyou replied "As much fun as that sounds, I think I'll pass. If you want to get to them, you'll have to beat me."

"Stubborn fool."

"You know it!"

Growling lowly, the lion demon charged forward, yelling "I don't have time for this!"

Waiting for his opponent to reach him, Inuyasha suddenly rushed forward and met Cloud head on. The two blades smashed up against one another, sending a spray of sparks flowing to the ground. Grinding their blades against one another, the two simultaneously drew back their swords and swung again, only to clash once more. Again and again, the two crossed blades, neither willing to give up.

Pushing away, the hanyou suddenly came charging back forward and swung out with a barrage of fierce strikes. One after another his wild swipes and slashes were parried, but he still continued to press a fierce attack.

Deciding he had had enough of being defensive, the lion demon suddenly vanished in a flash and reappeared directly behind his red robed opponent. Slashing out at him, he wasn't surprised when the large halberd of the half demon blocked his own blade. Not letting up, he pressed the attack, each one not wasting any energy.

After going at it for nearly ten minutes straight, the pair pulled apart with both lightly winded. Their breathing quickly calmed as they stared one another down, each searching for some weakness in the other's form.

"You handle that sword well, Inuyasha." Cloud complimented.

A touch surprised, Inuyasha returned the compliment, saying "You're pretty good yourself, Cloud. Gotta admit, you're completely different from what I expected."

"Oh?"

Nodding his head, the hanyou smirked and said "I expected someone who would mock me and call me a worthless half breed. Yet, you treat me like an equal and not someone that is the scum of the earth. I have to say, that's a major change from the norm and leaves a question for me to ask you about. Why do you serve the Lord of the East when you know what he does?"

Remaining silent for several long moments, the lion demon only stood with his eyes to the ground. Irritated, the hanyou snapped out "I want to know the truth. If you lie, I'll know it in an instant, so don't think you can make something up."

Taking in a deep breath, the lion demon slowly said "I serve Lord Sasuke because it is the duty of the Strife Clan. For as many years as there has been the Eastern Lands, a member of the Strife Clan has protected the Lord of the East. Many have given their lives in order to perform that duty, others have served out their terms and retired."

"To perform this duty, it is the pride of the clan. We serve our lord dutifully and without question to what he does. It is not our responsibility to keep our lord in check. It is his duty, along with his advisors to do so."

"But why not speak out against it!" Inuyasha growled out. "You know what he has done, what he is doing, and what he plans to do! Sasuke and Aikamaru intend on killing all the humans in Japan, along with anyone else that has ties to humans, and lastly anyone else that has human blood in their veins. Lots of people have already died and many more will do so if they succeed. So why do you serve someone with such evil intentions! Even you must realize what will happen in the end."

Looking away, but turning back towards the half demon with a fierce look in his light blue eyes as he raised his sword, Cloud yelled back "I am the protector of the Lord of the East! No matter what happens, I will protect my lord. Even if that means I am hated for doing so, I will protect him because that is the fate I was handed. I do not hate nor wish to kill you, Inuyasha Taisho, but I will not stand by and let you aid in his death."

Gripping Tetsusaiga a little tighter, the hanyou replied "Then you leave me with no choice either. I don't want to kill you. Hell, you seem nice enough, but I won't let you stop Lilly and Yoshe from completing their mission. If I have to, I'll kill."

Swinging his blade out to his right side, the lion demon widened his stance, saying "I can't waste anymore time on you. I'll finish this by releasing my zanpakutō."

Moving the blade right before himself and turning it horizontally, he swung the blade directly in front of his body and firmly called out "Burst Tsurugi!"

Blowing away from both lower sides of the sword were two separate blades, each having an arc to their lower part and a hilt folding out. The blades were much shorter than the main sword, only reaching a length of three feet each. Each blade had five holes seemingly cut into it and well made cuts around the bottom of them. A third blade fired out, this one being the main part of the sword's blade, but revealed that it was hollow inside. The remainder of the sword appeared solid, but the sword was visibly different from before. Each of the three blades that had been blown out of the sword suddenly began hovering and floated in behind the lion demon, seemingly waiting for him.

"Let's see how you handle this." Cloud declared as he reached out his right hand. The single hollowed out blade suddenly came to his right hand. Taking hold, he pointed the blade at his opponent as red demonic energy built up along it's length.

In an icy tone, he said "Cero."

Firing from the tip of the blade immediately was a red cylindrical beam of destructive energy. The beam raced straight towards a shocked hanyou.

Waking himself and knowing the danger he was in, Inuyasha instinctively dodged the attack just as the beam struck where he had once been. The beam tore through the rotunda walls as if they didn't exist, leaving a gaping hole in their wake.

Getting his bearings just back, the hanyou had only a moment's notice to raise his sword up to block a sword strike that would have surely severely wounded him if he had not. Grinding his blade back against the lion demon's, he shoved away the attacking blade, only to have to block a second sword aimed for his head.

Making several backwards leaps until he had a bit of distance between himself and his opponent, the hanyou raised his sword above his head with both hands firmly latched onto the hilt. Wrapping around the blade of the mighty fang shaped sword instantly was what looked like a swirl of wind.

Swinging his sword with all his might in a downwards slash, Inuyasha yelled out "Wind Scar!"

Just before striking the ground, the large sword of the silver haired half demon launched a beam of golden colored demonic energy that formed what looked like a tri-pronged claw shape and had wind bursting out from it. The blast ripped the floor of the castle asunder and headed straight towards the lion demon with the obvious intent on causing damage.

Releasing his hold on the hollowed out sword, he seemingly called to one of the two other swords that floated behind him. The hollowed out sword and the other swapped places in a flash and landed within his right hand. Taking hold, he moved it in front of himself protectively. Flaring out from the blade was a light blue colored barrier that covered the demon completely.

Smashing into the barrier, the golden energy infused with wind struggled against the opposing wall for several long moments until it at last dissipated to reveal the barrier was unharmed, along with what it protected.

"_So that sword can protect him while the other is for offensive capabilities. Damn, that's such a pain in the ass._" the hanyou grumbled.

Turning loose of his sword, the lion demon made a motion for the other unused sword to come forth into his grasp. While the other returned to it's stationary position behind him with the other floating blade, the last blade floated into the lion demon's hand. Grasping the blade tightly, he let a small smirk fall upon his face as he suddenly vanished in a blur.

Inuyasha's senses kicked into overdrive immediately and went about searching out his opponent's location. He searched the area hard and long, but quickly realized he could find no trace of his foe. Eyes suddenly widening, he picked up the faintest sense of his adversary's demonic aura directly behind him.

Rolling away just as a blade came slashing through the air at his back, the dog hanyou cringed as he felt the cool steel of the lion demon's sword cut through his robe of the fire rat and penetrated about an inch into his skin. Clambering to his feet as quick as he could and taking up a defensive position, he grit his teeth when he felt blood starting to ooze up from his wound and slide down his back.

"It's surprising you avoided a blow meant to kill you, Inuyasha. You only had a fraction of a second, yet you managed to sense me and get out of the way of my sword. Perhaps I underestimated your speed."

"Feh, I just got lucky. If I had reacted a little slower, I'd be laying on the ground dead and apologizing to my mate in the afterlife for being so stupid."

Cracking a feigned smile, Cloud smoothly said "Inuyasha, give up and step aside. You cannot hope to beat my Tsurugi. As you've already seen, each of the three blades floating behind me has a special ability of their own. One for offense, another for defense, and finally, the last to get past my enemy's defenses. Trust me, you cannot hope to win against my zanpakutō."

"I'm not the type to give up." Inuyasha defiantly replied. Raising Tetsusaiga up into a defensive position, he added "Everyone I've ever fought thought I'd quit or die, but I have news for you, just like I did them. I will never quit. You can grind me down to nothing, but I'll fight back until I can't anymore."

Pointing his blade at the sandy haired demon, he firmly said "My old man left me Tetsusaiga because he believed in me. My mother always believed in me. My mate and children, they all believe in me. My brothers, though one grudgingly, believes in me. I can't go quitting just because things look bad. If I did, then how could I ever face those that believe in me again. No matter what, I won't back down from this fight. You can cut me up till I'm soaked in my own blood, but nothing is going to stop me from completing this mission."

Releasing a heavy sigh as he dug one blade into the ground, the lion demon took his free hand and rubbed his forehead. "Don't be difficult. It's not as if I'm saying you might win, it's the fact you can't win. Don't throw away your life for no reason."

"I have plenty of reason not to, and more so to make sure you go down." Inuyasha declared as he gripped Tetsusaiga's hilt tightly. The blade suddenly began pulsating as wind began swirling around the blade. Letting out a light growl as he drew back the blade, he swung it sharply downwards and screamed out "Wind Scar!"

Flaring forth in a torrent of golden energy and infused wind, the beam of energy destroyed the very ground beneath it as it raced straight towards an exasperated lion demon.

"I'm telling you it's useless." Cloud stated as he called forth one of the twin blades that floated behind him. Seizing the blade from the air, he moved it in front of himself and called forth it's light blue energy barrier.

"_Just as I expected, he used his barrier._" Inuyasha whispered in his mind with a smirk.

Drawing out more power of his sword, he watched as the blade turned a crimson color and demonic wind wrapped itself around it again. Swinging it horizontally in an arc, he yelled out "Wind Scar!"

Another beam of golden wind infused energy launched from the blade and moved towards the already defending lion demon. As the previous energy beam gave up and petered out, the second beam smashed into the barrier.

At first, nothing happened like with the previous attacks. But after nearly five seconds, things changed, most noticeably with the barrier. Cracks spread throughout the shield, making the lion demon's eyes widen in shock. All at once, the beam of energy knocked a sizable hole through the failing barrier and pressed onwards towards the now unprotected lion demon. At the last second, he rolled away just as the beam destroyed the area he once stood only seconds ago.

Throwing the blade in his hand backwards and reaching out for another one to come to him, the lion demon soon enough had hold of his hollowed out sword. Taking aim with the blade, he targeted the hanyou as crimson energy coated the blade and began building near the tip.

"Enough games. Cero!"

Fired from the tip of the hollowed out sword was a beam of red cylindrical demonic energy that was powerful enough to destroy anything in it's path.

Not backing down, the hanyou charged forward as the crimson blade reverted back to it's original dully gray color. Wind encircled the sword and the roar from it was nearly deafening.

"Not happening! Backlash Wave!"

Narrowing his eyes as he surveyed the incoming demonic energy, the hanyou saw a smoldering spot within the beam and with practiced movements, slashed out at the area with his sword. Golden demonic energy engulfed the crimson beam and sent the attack to a screaming stop and throwing it backwards towards the lion demon. Slender cyclones formed immediately and shot straight towards the stationary demon.

Realizing the danger he was in, Cloud threw his sword to the side and reached for the remaining blade he had not used in the current scuffle. Taking hold on it, he suddenly vanished in a blur, leaving the whirlpools of energy behind to destroy a section of the rotunda.

Knowing what was coming next, Inuyasha quickly spun around with his sword already transforming into a diamond encrusted blade. Swinging at a wide arc, he screamed out "Right there! Adamant Barrage!"

All at once, a spray of adamant shards went roaring towards one of the distant walls of the rotunda. Reappearing just as suddenly as he had disappeared, the lion demon found himself facing down a spray of diamond splinters. With agility that surprised even him, the lion managed to avoid a majority of the shards, but was still hit in the left arm and leg by a few that took small chucks out of him.

Backing away several feet and panting heavily as he surveyed his wounds, Cloud let out a feral growl. "How did you know?"

"How did I know what?" Inuyasha cockily asked. "Oh, where you'd be? Well, that was simple really. I knew you'd reappear behind me again and try to surprise attack me. That's why when I launched the Backlash Wave, I readied the Adamant Barrage. It only figured that you'd try to come at me like that again. Contrary to popular belief, I do think ahead a little bit."

Hearing some of his blood splash to the ground, Cloud grit his teeth tightly to the point that they were grinding. "I took you far too lightly. My mistake. Let me rectify that."

"Bankai."

Flaring out in a brilliant flash was a burst of light blue demonic aura. Two more blades that were a part of the large sword fired out and the main blade itself was revealed. It was a massive broad sword that suddenly opened up, leaving spaces in the middle with three sections holding it together. The final two swords that had been launched were from the back of the sword and had sharp teeth for the front of their blade. In total, there were five swords floating behind him and the single one in his hand.

In a low, dangerous tone with his head lowered, the lion demon said "Ama-no-Murakumo-no-Tsurugi."

Stomping a foot forward as he revealed hardened light blue eyes, he icily stated "It's time to end this fight, once and for all."

000

000

Staring up in the sky with his mouth agape and green energy raining down on him, the Lord of the North found himself at a loss for words at the sight he saw.

Floating midair was the bat demon, Ulquiorra Cifer, but completely changed. A pair of black wings that stretched out about ten feet were unfurled and seemingly at the ready to take off. Down to his mid-back was jet black hair that hung freely. The once incomplete half white helmet like bone that was upon his head now took up a full form with what looked like white wings stretching out for horns and a set of horns on the backside of it. His emerald eyes shone just as darkly as before and seemed to reflect nothing by calmness. Each of his twin tear like green demonic markings were now a dull gray color and seemed to have widened. The tips of his clawed hands now had a black stripe tracing down from mid-way up each finger to the claw. He now wore a white tunic that stretched down to his ankles in length and formed a halter like strap around his neck, leaving his arms exposed and a portion of his chest as well. Black boots were fashioned on his feet. In his right hand was a emerald colored lance of demonic energy.

Feeling himself starting to sweat due to the intense demonic aura that he sensed coming from the general, Kouga formed a fist in his left hand and grit his teeth.

"Don't get shaken."

Quickly moving into a defensive stance when he heard said phrase from his opponent, the wolf demon readied himself for the attack he knew would come.

"Don't drop your guard. Stay fully alert. Don't get distracted for a single moment."

Eyes filling with shock as he suddenly saw his adversary directly in front of him with his lance drawn back to attack, the wolf demon had only a millisecond to duck an attack that would have beheaded him if he had been any later. Retreating quickly to a safe distance of twenty feet, he let out a breath he had been holding since the close encounter.

Turning his emerald eyes towards the wolf demon in an emotionless manner, Ulquiorra coolly said "Such excellent reflexes, Lord Kouga. I was certain that your head would be rolling at my feet with that attack. "

Panting slightly, Kouga hardened his eyes and let out a low, feral growl. "_Too fast. How... how did he increase his speed to that level! Not just his speed, but the sheer power behind his swing. I'm lucky as hell he didn't take my head there._"

Waking from his thoughts as he watched his opponent drawing back his right arm with lance in hand, the wolf demon focused his eyes on the lance.

"_Look carefully! Focus!_" the wolf stated.

Watching with fierce intensity, the wolf demon shifted his head to the right, avoiding the thrown lance perfectly. As he did, he witnessed his opponent speeding straight towards him on his wings and a new energy lance in hand.

Slashing out at the wolf demon with his lance, the bat was met by the clawed right hand of the demon lord and sent the two of them backwards with the wolf skidding along the ground. The two blades ground against one another and released a shower of emerald colored sparks and energy. Staring into his enemy's eyes with empty emerald orbs, the general spotted a glint of fear beginning to form within the demon lord's eyes.

Pushing off and slashing wildly at his opponent in a desperate attempt to wound him, the wolf wasn't shocked when his attack was blocked. Spinning around quickly and lashing out with a kick, he let out a low growl when a white skinned arm obstructed the kick. Still not finished, the wolf continued his spinning action and launched a fist towards the cheek of his rival. Stopped again, he was forced to retreat away but was put on the defensive by a charge from the bat demon.

Swinging his lance in wide arcs and wasting no movements in his attacks, the bat demon emotionlessly stared at the defensive wolf. Blow after the blow, the wolf managed to dodge or parry the hard pressing generals attacks. Suddenly vanishing, he reappeared several feet away, panting lightly.

Casting an even glance at the wolf demon, Ulquiorra smoothly asked "Tell me, Lord Kouga, do you find this battle as easy as you thought it would be?"

Inhaling deeply as he slid his aqua colored eyes shut, Kouga snapped open his eyes suddenly as his demonic aura burst to life. Charging forward instantly, he slashed out at the bat demon. His attack was met by the lance of the pale demon, but at the same time he fired his left fist forward straight for the demon's face.

Out of reflex, the bat demon blocked the attack with is right hand, but quickly realized his mistake. The demon lord took complete advantage of the mistake and swiped out at the chest of his opponent, intent clear of landing a killing blow in the chest of his adversary. Having no choice, the general raised his left arm up to block the attack and received a deep gash by the five clawed blades. Backing away quickly, the bat inspected his wounds momentarily as blood dripped to the ground in soft spatters.

"Damn your Hierro is so thick. If not for it, I'd have cleaved your arm off." Kouga stated as he flicked the blood off of his metal claws.

"It seems I underestimated you a bit, Lord Kouga. You seem to have realized that in order to defeat me, you will have to draw out your full power. Tell me, are you doing so now?"

Throwing a cocky smirk in the general's direction, the wolf demon replied "Not quite, but I'll get there when necessary. You're starting to have to use more power as well."

"Indeed." Ulquiorra stated. Without warning, the wound on his arm suddenly healed over and returned to it's previously unharmed state.

Taking in the sight, the demon lord couldn't help but let out a light gasp. Not changing his facial expression as he stared into the eyes of his enemy, the bat demon took a few steps forward before coming to rest.

"My greatest ability is not my offensive power. No, it is my ability to self recover from almost any wound. Most wounds, other than those that damage internal organs, will recover and repair themselves. Should I lose an arm, it will regenerate. Do you understand the situation you are in Lord Kouga?"

Flashing a fanged smirk back at the bat demon and throwing him an uncompromised look, Kouga smartly replied "Impossible odds, certain death. Sounds like any other day I do battle."

**Thanks everyone for reading the chapter. Now, if you could do me a kind favor and review to let me know what you think of the chapter, I'd appreciate it. Till next time!**


	16. Chapter 16: True Duty

**Hello once more everyone! So, been an interesting last week or so. Started out on last Wednesday that my car acted up. It had acted up the previous week when I went to the doctor with the motor sounding like it was at half power. I had it checked out then and nothing could be found other than it was misfiring on two of the cylinders, but it was back to normal. I kept an eye on it and thought perhaps it was back to normal until Wednesday when the misfiring came back with a vengeance. It was constant that night and I ended up taking it to the shop and dropping it off for the weekend. I got it back Monday and it sounded nice. Apparently the control piece for the cylinders was not doing anything on two of four, explaining why it felt like it was at half power. It has been running good until last night, in which the service engine light came on just as I got home. So now I need to take it back down and see what's up with it. Lovely car... Home shopping is going well, since only getting the report on the appraisal of the home is left. Once we have that, we can get a closing date and press on. I'm hoping we can move in during June sometime. Other than that, life is just as hectic as always, lol.**

**Writing wise, I'm slowly moving forward. Meh, I just can't seem to get motivated at times to write when I know I should be. It'll work out though. I'm hoping to close this story out by the end of summer or before, but we'll see.**

**Thanks to Kattana and auronsword for your reviews. I always loving hearing from the two of you. Once more, thanks for taking the time to review.**

**Well, that does it for this round. Take care all and enjoy!**

**Chapter 16**

Staring one another down for several long moments, the Lord of the North and General of the East inched a foot forward at the same time. Bursting forward, the pair charged one another, their weapons ready to make a decisive blow on the other.

Kouga was first to swipe out at the general, who deftly dodged the attack. Not finished yet, the wolf demon launched into a series of high speed swipes and stabs, only to have his clawed hand met at every turn. Adding a few kicks into his movements and throwing a few punches, he attempted to knock the bat demon off balance, but instead his rival seemed to keep pace.

Vanishing suddenly and reappearing directly behind the wolf demon, the bat sent his lance forward. Just as the lance was about to stab the demon lord in the back, he turned around and caught it between his hands. Sparks flew from the contact between the metal blade and the energy lance, while at the same time blood spattered to the ground due to the wolf's left unprotected hand being harmed.

Panting as he held the lance in place with shaky hands, Kouga winced as he felt the lance being pressed back towards him. Letting out a low growl, he suddenly jerked the lance forward and threw the bat demon off balance. Vanishing instantly, the wolf was behind the general with his metal clawed hand glowing with a golden demonic aura.

"GORAISHI!"

Swiping through the air and shooting out a beam of golden demonic energy mixed with light blue lightning, the wolf watched as the attacked landed a direct attack at close range and sent his opponent skidding backwards in a plume of smoke.

A few long moments passed before the smoke settled to reveal that the bat demon was mostly unharmed, though there were several small holes through his wings and a minor cut or two on his face, along with his tunic ripped in places. Staring down the demon lord for a mere second, the general let out a long breath as he breathing became a few winded pants. Each of his minor wounds immediately began regenerating and were finished healing within seconds.

"Not bad. I expected you'd not take much damage from that level of attack."

Evenly, Ulquiorra responded "You continue to intrigue me, Lord Kouga. When you want to be, you can be very dangerous. By the fact that you output more power in that last attack, I take it you are starting to have to draw out your full power."

Not saying a word, the wolf demon charged towards the bat demon with his metal claws poised to strike. Slashing out, his metal claws were met by the energy lance of his opponent, causing a shower of orange and green sparks to fall to the ground. Pressing his attack, the demon lord continued to swipe out at his opponent, forcing the general to step backwards as he blocked each power laced attack.

Vanishing suddenly, the wolf reappeared several feet above his opponent with his right leg raised up and in position for an axe kick. Coming down quickly and paying no heed to the bland expression being shown by his opponent, Kouga swung downwards with the kick.

Ulquiorra easily caught the kick, only to have his eyes widened when he realized the demon lord's metallic claws were covered in a golden aura with lightning sizzling off of them.

"Block this one, if you can!"

Thrusting his clawed hand towards the head of his rival, Kouga suppressed the urge to growl when the bat demon shifted his head to the side and took the blow in his left shoulder. The clawed hand shredded straight through the shoulder and dug in deeply to the point that the claws tips were on the other side of it.

Kicking off from the general and landing in a crouched stance, the wolf demon instantly rushed forward with his claws still glowing in their golden aura. He slashed out with ferocity not yet seen in the battle to this point, as well shot out several strong kicks that could split trees in half.

On the defensive as his would was healing, the bat demon found it difficult to maneuver with only one usable arm. He dodged or parried all of the clawed attacks, but the kicks was a different matter. None of them presented the possibilities of being cut down, so he blocked only what he had to, mainly those aimed for critical areas.

Flashing away and reappearing in the sky and visibly lightly winded, the general glanced at his shoulder as the healing process at last finished. The other minor wounds on his body were quick to heal, including those wounds from the kicks.

Regaining his breath at last, the bat demon coolly stated "You have proven to be quite tenacious, Lord Kouga. For that, I shall show you something that you no doubt have never seen since coming to know those that trained under my former master. It is the second and most powerful Cero that he taught us. This Cero alone can only be released when we unleash our zanpakutō."

Raising his hand and pointing his index finger directly at the demon lord many feet below him, the general smoothly said "The name of this Cero is Cero Oscuras."

Black demonic aura mixed in with a glimmer of emerald started building up on the bat demon's finger instantly. The energy took form in the shape of a small sphere with four bolts of energy continuing to gather. All at once, the energy formed pulled into the sphere and shot forth in a massive beam of black and green swirling energy. The beam itself was in the shape of a cone like attack, giving it optimum effect at a distance.

"_Shit, it's fast!_" was the lone thought going through Kouga's mind as he immediately flashed out of the path of the blast.

The beam slammed straight into the ground and completely obliterated everything within a radius of twenty feet. Dust, debris, and smoke poured into the air, hiding the movements within the affected area.

Slowly, the results of the attack were revealed as the dust and smoke settled. A thirty foot deep crater was carved into the landscape, with it's diameter stretching out almost a total of twenty-seven feet. Rocks were scattered about on the outside perimeter of said crater, along with piles of dirt and gravel.

Lowering to the ground and staring unemotionally at the demon lord, Ulquiorra smoothly stated "I'm surprised you dodged. I was under the impression that you would try to take on my attack and block it. Perhaps it is for the best that you didn't do so."

"_That smug bastard. If I had taken on his attack head on, I'd have no doubt taken quite a bit of damage from that blast. Goraishi could have probably defeated it, but I can't afford to waste power in such frivolous manner. From what I've seen of his skills thus far, we're almost on an even playing field. He would have gained the upper hand if I had just tried to block that attack. There is no way I can afford to do something that stupid. I need to find a way to sneak inside his guard and hit him head on with a high level blast from Goraishi. It may not defeat him, but it should be enough to weaken him._"

Eyes hardening, the wolf demon muttered "_But that's the tricky part. He's too agile for me to just rush in with Goraishi fully charged. I managed to catch him off guard with that axe kick combo. He won't fall for that one again. That means I need to create an opening, just for a moment._"

Flexing Goraishi so that the blades clattered against one another, the wolf demon shot forward at high speed. Drawing back his right hand, he made it ready to attack.

Knowing what to expect, Ulquiorra raised his lance up to block as the clawed hand moved towards his head. His eyes widened when unexpected, the wolf demon instead took hold of the lance and pulled the bat demon forward. A mighty left hook punch smashed into the general's left cheek. Dazed, he wasn't prepared as the demon lord spun around and slammed a powerful kick into his chest and was sent skidding backwards.

Using the opportunity to draw energy into his weapon, Kouga gathered as much power as he could and struck out at the bat demon. The golden demonic energy flew straight towards the seemingly unaware general, who appeared to be reeling from the previous attack.

Without warning, the pale skinned general pointed his right hand at the attack with his index finger extended. Black and green demonic energy pushed onto the tip of his finger and formed a small sphere immediately. In a flash, the sphere shot forward as a massive beam of swirling energy and smashed into the golden energy.

The duo fought for nearly a minute to gain dominance over the other, but in the end, both attacks used up all their reserves and faded. Watching this, the demon lord and general were panting lightly, each keeping a sharp eye on the other.

"It never occurred to me that you'd be able to counter that move." Kouga muttered.

Calming his breathing, Ulquiorra drew himself to full height and replied "I knew you would create an opening in my defenses. However, I had not anticipated the way you had, but nonetheless, I was prepared. During that engagement, I had been charging up energy to fire my Cero Oscuras in case I found an opening as well. Perhaps it was for the best that I did, seeing how I was able to cancel out your attack."

Shifting his lance before him and spreading his wings wide, the bat demon readied for another attack. Coolly, he said "This battle has dragged on long enough. I must end it."

Kouga didn't have a chance to cockily reply as the general launched straight towards him at a high rate of speed. Quickly shifting into a defensive stance, he blocked the lance strike meant to take off his head in just the nick of time. Holding back the attack with all his strength, the wolf demon chanced a glance into the emerald eyes of his opponent. Not surprised to find them cold and unemotional, he flinched when he felt a burst of strength push back his clawed hand a few inches.

Suddenly thrown skidding backwards, the demon lord's eyes widened when he saw his opponent vanish in a flash. Locating him quickly, he swung around with his claws ready to parry an incoming attack from behind.

"I don't think so!"

His slash missed completely as the bat demon vanished again and reappeared directly behind the wolf demon's new position with his lance drawn back and poised to plunge through the demon lord.

Moving his lance in a wide arc with intent clear in his movements, Ulquiorra's eyes suddenly narrowed and shifted to his left. In a flash, he disappeared once more right as an arrow of glowing pink energy struck where he had been standing only moments ago. Retreating to a safe distance of thirty feet, he examined the pink arrow lodged in the ground for a few moments before looking up in the direction the arrow had been fired from.

"Hiding yourself is no longer an option." the bat demon stoically stated. "Come out, or I'll force you out."

Leaping out of the wood line and landing several feet away from the demon lord was a figured wearing a tan colored cloak with two red stripes on the end of the cloak. A hood was drawn up over the figure's face, hiding it completely from view. In his right hand was a glowing spider web like bow that had a cross subscribed into it, with the bow itself made of light blue energy.

Removing his hood, he revealed himself to be a young human man with black hair that fell to his neck in length and had a blue hue to it. Square glasses sat upon his nose, giving off a gleam in the sunlight. Behind the glasses were a pair of dark blue eyes filled with hardness, but a small glint of softness.

"Sorry to keep you, Lord Kouga. I had a bit of opposition over the last few days to get through."

Mouth opening slightly, the wolf demon mumbled "You're ..."

"Human."

Turning towards the pale skinned general, the young man watched and listened as the general smoothly asked, if not stated "You are a Quincy?"

Shifting his stance so to keep his body facing the bat demon, the human answered "That's right, General Ulquiorra Cifer. I'm flattered you know of my kind."

"Quincy are rare in this day and time." Ulquiorra remarked in a cool voice. "At one time a war was declared between your kind and the Eastern Lands. Former Lord Yomi's forces killed many of the Quincy. Only a few had survived and fled into the Western and Northern Lands as I recall."

"What of it?" the Quincy questioned. "Am I supposed to get angry and charge blindly at you, screaming at the top of my lungs 'Die in the name of those Quincy your kind killed?' Do not take me so lightly. I am one of the remaining Quincy, that is true, and I do carry the pride of my race, but Quincy do not blindly attack those that have wronged them. We are not animals, much like many demons. We do not seek out battle, but only fight when necessary and for the greater good."

Drawing his left hand out of his cloak, he revealed it was covered in light blue energy threads that ran from his shoulder down to his finger tips. Expertly, he reached up with the hand and pushed his glasses back up on his nose.

"That is ..."

"Ransōtengai." the Quincy finished. "A technique that allows me to create numerous strings of energy and connect them to a part of my body that cannot move. I can then control that body part like a puppet. I'm forced to use this due that my left shoulder was destroyed several years ago in a previous fight. It's never healed, so I use Ransōtengai to continue to fight."

"Quincy are a proud race that will fight until their death. That is why our race is so determined and strong. Do not think you can rattle me with mind games."

"I see." the bat demon responded. "Tell me, what is your name, Quincy."

With pride reflecting in his voice, the human answered "Uryū Ishida."

Not even having a chance to reply back to the Quincy, the bat demon vanished into thin air as a large halberd slashed where he had once stood. Coming back into sight twenty feet from where he had once stood, the general eyed a new figure that had attacked him from behind.

"You barely had any of your power leaking out. I'm impressed that someone like you could compress their power to where there was almost nothing for me to sense. Who are you, stranger?" Ulquiorra queried.

Shifting his large halberd so that the steel glinted in the sunlight, the figure moved to look more directly at the general. He wore the same cloak as the Quincy, and similarly with his hood drawn. Digging his sword into the ground, he reached up with his left hand to pull back the cloak's hood and revealed his face. White long hair that reached his butt in length spilled out. Two triangular white dog ears swiveled back and forth for a moment as muddy brown eyes regarded his opponent.

Examining his sword for a moment before returning his vision to the bat demon, the dog eared man coolly said "I didn't think it would be that easy. Heh, I thought for a mere moment that I could take you down in one move."

"You?" questioned Ulquiorra.

"That's right, me." the half demon quipped as he drew his sword up out of the ground and placed it up onto his right shoulder. "Surprising, isn't it, General Ulquiorra?"

Facial expressions unchanged, the pale skinned general smoothly replied "Yukio Taisho, ..."

"Kuchiki." Yukio corrected. "I may not hold a grudge against my father any longer, nor long for his life, but I do retain the last name given to me."

Letting out a very faint grunt, the bat demon replied "I see. Are you here to avenge your sacrificed comrades from Amestris? Or perhaps you are here to save Chikako?"

"The first does sound logical to me but not quite the reason why I'm here." the dog hanyou remarked in a calm voice. "As for Chikako, you can keep her."

Grinning evilly, he added "In fact, better yet, throw her bloody corpse at my feet if you like. I'd enjoy seeing that whore getting what she deserves after the destruction she brought upon Amestris."

Unmoved by the words of the hanyou and taking up an offensive position, Ulquiorra smoothly retorted "Very well then. I have no choice but to cut the three of you down."

000

000

Watching the five hovering blades to the back of the lion demon, Inuyasha let out a low growl and shifted Tetsusaiga before himself. "_Just great, he has even more of those swords. The first three were a real pain in the ass, but I wonder what the hell those two new ones can do. And then there is the main sword he keeps using. If it has any powers, I'm sure I'll find out soon enough._"

"I will show you the true power of my Ama-no-Murakumo-no-Tsurugi. Prepare yourself, Inuyasha Taisho."

Holding his left hand out, Cloud mentally called forth one of the floating swords. The one that landed within his hand was one of the ones that had yet to be used within the fight thus far. The serrated blade glowed with a touch of power as it landed within his hand, showing it had power.

Smirking, Cloud smoothly said "Let's see how you handle this. Hastega."

Not backing down, Inuyasha watched silently as the serrated sword pulsed and shot a beam of white energy out over it's master. His eyes immediately widened when the lion demon vanished into thin air. Searching the area with his senses, he started to worry when he realized that his opponent was moving at a speed that his eyes couldn't keep up.

Looking back and forth across the rotunda frantically, the hanyou suddenly picked up the location of his adversary. Throwing himself forward and rolling out of the way of his attacker, he narrowly dodged a slash from the larger blade in the lion demon's hand meant to cut him down.

"Not bad, but try to dodge this."

On his feet to find that the lion demon was once more gone, the dog hanyou's eyes scanned the area, only to again find his opponent was moving far too fast for him to track. He suddenly felt a gust of wind brush against the back of his neck, making his eyes widen in fear.

The hanyou tried to turn and face his opponent, but failed to do so quickly enough. The serrated sword cut straight through the red robe that protected him and left a shallow gash on his back. Blood spattered to the ground from the attack, along with an echoing sound of a pained growl from the hanyou.

Reappearing several feet away from the hanyou with a smug look on his face, Cloud smoothly said "You can't hope to beat me now, Inuyasha. My speed is far too advanced for you."

Righting himself and charging forward with his large halberd drawn up in front of himself, Inuyasha angry spat back "Don't underestimate me!"

Sighing, the lion demon once more vanished into thin air. As he did so, the hanyou came to a skidding stop and sought out his enemy. Not finding him like before, he let out a low throaty growl. Without warning, the sword in his hands pulsated, as if calling out to him.

Looking at Tetsusaiga and understanding what the sword was trying to tell him, he softly whispered "Alright, let's try that."

Glowing with a red aura, the sword's aura slowly faded to reveal it was now half green with what looked like dragon scales etched into it. Pulsating, the blade seemed to emit a bit of power as it's master slid his eyes shut.

Focusing on the power that the transformed sword had, the dog hanyou soon found the trail to which his opponent was leaving. Eyes snapping open, he drew the sword up suddenly and swung it down, screaming as he did so "Take this! Wind Scar!"

Launching from the blade instantly was a beam of golden demonic energy in a claw like shape. The beam ripped the very ground beneath it asunder and roared towards what looked like an empty area of the rotunda.

That soon changed as the lion demon suddenly appeared in the space with eyes wide open and filled with shock. Back flipping, he barely evaded the attack.

"How?" was the one word question he asked as he stared down the dog hanyou.

Smirking victoriously as he brandished his halberd at the lion demon, Inuyasha answered brashly "I'm not very fast, I'll give you that, but what I don't have in speed Tetsusaiga makes up in ability. This is it's dragon scaled form. In this form, I can detect a demon's Yoketsu, allowing me to easily track them. Sure, my eyes can't keep up, but you can't fool Tetsusaiga."

"So that's how it is." Cloud commented.

Still smirking as he brought his large sword back in front of him, the hanyou smartly replied "Yeah, so come and get me if you dare."

Studying the half demon for a few long moments before shifting his stance into an offensive one, the lion demon declared "Hastega."

Not moving an inch, Inuyasha grunted out "Not this again. I told you it won't work against me anymore."

Tapping into the powers of Tetsusaiga, the dog hanyou was quick to pick up on the trail of his adversary and determined he was moving up to a higher vantage point. Adjusting so that he could counter anything thrown at him, he waited as he noticed the lion demon coming to a stop near the top of the rotunda.

Reappearing suddenly and swapping swords, the sandy haired demon took hold of the second blade he had not yet used. Tightening his grip, he swung the serrated sword downwards as a massive sphere of flames ignited on it's tip. Throwing the fireball, he called out "Firaga!"

Falling towards the unmoved silver haired hanyou at a blistering pace, the large fireball intensified as it descended downwards.

"No way is that hitting me!" Inuyasha declared as he drew back Tetsusaiga. Swinging the sword at an anger towards the incoming attack, he cried out "Backlash Wave!"

Flaring off of the blade and surging forward in a flash was golden demonic energy. The beam collided with the massive fireball and immediately encircled it and began taking over it's pathway. Coming to a screeching halt, the attack's direction was reversed and sent barreling back into the sky towards where the lion demon stood.

With the attack not even halfway back to him, Cloud vanished and suddenly reappeared twenty feet away from Inuyasha on the ground. Hauling the sword in his right hand over his head, he smirked as golden demonic energy poured off of the blade like lightning.

"Just as expected. Let's see you stop this! Thundaga!"

Bringing his sword down as hard as he could with one hand, the lion demon shot a beam of crackling yellow energy straight for the hanyou. The beam seemed almost ominous with it's crackling sound and destructive power.

"_Shit, no time to dodge or use Tetsusaiga!_"

Watching his attack hit from a far, the lion demon flinched when he heard the counter-attack his opponent had launched at his previous attack smashed through the roof of the rotunda. Letting out a heavy sigh, he saw chunks of the ceiling collapsing inwards and smash into the ground and disperse some of the smoke from his last attack.

"Lord Sasuke will not be pleased with that damage."

"I think you have more important things to worry about." a winded voice called from the smoke.

Narrowing his eyes as he scanned the smoke, Cloud soon saw the image of the red robed hanyou amongst the rubble. Scanning his form, the lion demon couldn't wrap his mind around how the dog hanyou had survived.

"That's not possible..." he whispered.

Smirking as he took a few unsteady steps forward, Inuyasha smugly asked "Didn't expect to see me again, did you?"

Shaking his head, the confused demon retorted "That attack was spot on. I know it hit you, so how did you survive!"

Raising his left hand to reveal he was holding the sheath to his blade in it, the dog hanyou brashly replied "I would have been done for if not for the fact I used my sheath to block."

"Your sheath?"

Nodding his head in confirmation, the red robed hanyou answered "That's right. You see, Tetsusaiga's sheath isn't just any ordinary sheath. It is endowed with a powerful barrier that can block most attacks. I knew when you fired your second attack I couldn't block it or dodge it. The only thing I could come up with was use my sheath."

Placing the black lacquered scabbard back into his obi, he added "This battle has been pretty fun."

Softly smiling, the lion demon smoothly said "I agree. I've truly enjoyed myself in this battle with you as my opponent."

"That's why I think we should stop. I don't want to kill you." Inuyasha seriously stated.

Casting his eyes down at the ground, Cloud quietly replied "I wish I could, but I must defeat you and fulfill my duty to Lord Sasuke. I have no hatred in my heart for you, nor do I wish to see you dead."

"However, I cannot disobey my orders." he added firmly as he revealed eyes filled with resolve.

Gripping Tetsusaiga a bit tighter, the hanyou grunted out "There is no reason to continue this fight. I give you my word that I will make sure you are not imprisoned if you stop right now."

Feigning a smile, the lion demon countered with "Warriors like you and I cannot ever accept surrender."

Unable to answer, the silver haired hanyou grit his teeth and spat out "You stubborn bastard, if we continue, one of us will most likely die."

Calming himself, he added "There aren't many demons out there like yourself. You didn't once judge me as a weakling throughout this battle. Instead, you took me on as if I was your equal and gave no quarter. I did the same in return and we both discovered that we enjoy fighting one another."

"But it's pointless to continue. We both know the end result. One of us will die at the pace we're fighting at. That's why we should stop now. I don't want to kill you."

Staring down the hanyou for several long moments, the lion demon half heartedly chuckled, saying "I agree, I have no desire to kill you either. My personal feelings want me to stop this fight and agree to your request."

Turning serious, he added "But I know I cannot. I took up an oath to defend the Eastern Lord at any cost, even if it was that of my own life. I cannot disobey because of personal reasons. My clan has been given the honor of guarding the Lord of the East since these very lands were founded. To betray the oath I took for this honor would to betray my clan itself. So I will say it once more, I must defeat you and go after those two women. I will not allow any harm to come to my Lord."

Lowly growling, Inuyasha muttered "You dumb ass..."

"Besides, I've yet to show you Tsurugi's true power." Cloud boasted as he heaved the blade in his hand up onto his right shoulder. "I've shown you each blade's ability, but the six together have a final attack, one which you cannot stop."

Bringing the sword off his shoulder and holding it out before him, he mentally called to the five blades floating behind his back. The five suddenly moved forward, each shifting their position. One by one, the five recombined with the original core blade to reform the original massive halberd once again.

"_Did he deactivate his Bankai?_" Inuyasha pondered. "_No, his demonic aura is still at a high level. No way he'd quit this battle. He must be planning something big._"

Without warning, the blade of the lion demon was engulfed in a light blue demonic aura that made the hanyou wary of what was coming. Charging forward with a battle cry, the sandy haired demon struck out at his opponent, who expertly parried the attack. The lion demon suddenly thrust his blade forward, forcing the blade of his opponent to raise upwards and left him open. With a mighty kick, he sent the hanyou flying backwards. He quickly caught up to his adversary and threw another mighty kick, this one sending the hanyou skywards.

Regaining his balance and focus on his opponent, the dog hanyou scanned the area and quickly found the lion demon flying up at him with his blade spinning rapidly. Watching his rival drawing back his sword and readying it to cut him in half, the silver haired hanyou readied his blade and parried the attack.

Pressing hard against the blade of the hanyou, Cloud coldly declared "Burst!"

All at once, the halberd split apart and fired all of it's blades free from itself. Each was glowing with the same light blue aura as their combined form. Five of the blades took up a star like design with the core blade centered in the middle as all six rose up higher above the fighters.

Glowing with his own light blue aura, the lion demon vanished into thin air. He soon became visible and was seen grasping one of the serrated blades. Dashing at a speed that was impossible for human eyes to see, he came screaming in towards the hanyou and slashed him across the chest.

Paying no heed to the spurting blood that hung in the air near the airborne hanyou, the sandy haired demon vanished again, leaving only a trail of light blue aura in his wake. He reappeared once more, this time at another of his swords. Taking hold, he zigzagged around the hanyou several times before coming in close and slashing the red robed fighter in the back.

Again and again, he repeated the process, each time selecting a different blade. At last, he had struck the hanyou with the five outer blades twice each. Vanishing once more, he reached the core blade and took hold of it and fell directly down towards his battered opponent.

The hanyou grit his teeth and attempted to reposition himself into a maneuverable position to block the lion demon's charge, but it was all in vain. With lightning fast movements, the sandy haired demon slashed out at the hanyou and cut him across the chest. Moving away, he quickly made a round trip and made yet another attack on the helpless red robed hanyou. Three more times, he repeated the process, with the last attack slamming the hanyou down into the ground.

At the same time, he landed onto the ground on the balls of his feet and caught his core sword. The other five blades flew down at the same time and dug a foot each into the ground as their light blue auras faded.

"It's over. No one survives my Omnislash."

Throwing a small glance at the still figure of the red robed hanyou, the lion demon noticed that blood was staining the ground underneath his body. The pool was growing larger by the moment.

In a sorrowful tone, he softly said "I am truly sorry to have to have killed you, Inuyasha Taisho. It is not what I wanted. May Kami give you peace in the afterlife."

Walking away slowly, the lion demon extended his right arm with the core blade in of his sword still in his hand. The five blades that had dug into the ground suddenly drew themselves out and raced back towards their master. As one, the swords reassembled the large halberd, and with one final click the lion demon placed it back onto his back.

"I am coming, Lord Sasuke. I will protect you."

"Like... hell... you're leaving."

Coming to an abrupt stop and hearing grinding metal on the stone floor, Cloud slowly turned to find Inuyasha starting to stand up. Blood poured from his numerous wounds and coated the floor in his crimson life force, but he ignored it and continued to force himself to his feet. His breathing was erratic and heavy while sweat poured down his face and dripped onto the ground to mix with the metallic red ooze.

Shaking terribly, Inuyasha growled out "I'm not... dead yet."

"Impossible. You should be dead. I made certain of that when I attacked you. I aimed for your vital spots with all fifteen strikes." Cloud argued.

Still trembling from the pain, the hanyou smirked and replied "You are right, you hit my vital spots, but you missed an important aspect of that. When you cut me, I sensed it and shifted my body slightly enough so that the cut didn't go deep enough. All fifteen of your attacks, I did the same thing, so not a one of them managed to inflict any significant damage. Sure, I'm a bloody mess and got messed up from those attacks, but I'm still alive and have a chance to win this fight still yet."

Softly chuckling, the lion demon remarked "I think the blood loss is going to your head."

"Don't underestimate me."

Raising his blade up in front of himself with laborious breaths, Inuyasha slid his eyes shut and called out to Tetsusaiga. The sword immediately responded with several pulses and transformed into a black colored blade with what looked like images of the universe floating within it.

"I cannot proceed until I stop you, Inuyasha Taisho. It is a shame it came to this." Cloud sorrowfully declared.

Slowly, the lion demon walked towards the hanyou and picked up speed. He was soon at full speed and sprinting towards his weakened opponent. As he was approaching his opponent the lion demon reached up and took hold of his sword's hilt. In a single jerk, he had it free and ready at his side to strike.

"You're right, it is a shame it came to this." Inuyasha countered. Drawing his sword up over his head, he started to swing his blade downwards with all his strength. Black bolts of electricity poured off the blade, giving it a mystical look.

Voice firm, he called out "Meidou Zangetsuha!"

From the downward sweeping attack came several black crescent moon blades, each what looked like images of the universe within them. The multiple blades cut straight through the ground and sucked in the stone flooring that it had cut.

In shock from the power he felt from the attack, Cloud attempted to block the attack with his zanpakutō. He soon realized his mistake as one of the blades cut straight through his sword like it was nothing and sucked in the destroyed half of the sword. The same blade continued on and cut straight into his shoulder, taking his arm and a small portion of his left side with it. Passing by harmlessly, the remaining blades struck the walls of the rotunda and sucked in the debris before vanishing.

Falling to his knees and sword clattering to the ground, along with his crimson life force, the lion demon let out a scream of pain as he reached up to put pressure on his missing shoulder with his right hand. His body trembled greatly as the pain flared up and down it from his wounds.

Hobbling over to where the lion demon sat on his knees and head bowed, Inuyasha quietly declared "It's over, Cloud Strife."

Gritting his teeth as he inhaled a deep breath, Cloud replied in a pained voice "So it is, Inuyasha Taisho."

Lifting his head to reveal a set of broken light blue eyes, he softly said "I have lost this battle. Finish me."

"No."

"I have nothing left to live for. My life was forfeit the moment your attack took my arm away from me. Lord Sasuke has no use for my broken body. As the victor, you have the duty to end my life."

Visibly infuriated, the hanyou shifted his sword into his left hand before launching forward and punching the lion demon in the left cheek. "YOU FUCKING IDIOT!"

Thrown to the ground from the force of the attack, the lion demon spat out a touch of blood to see a furious amber gaze upon him.

"DON'T YOU EVER MAKE THAT REQUEST OF ME!" Inuyasha heatedly spat. "I will not have your death on my conscious! Have you forgotten those that are more precious to you than your damn lord?"

Eyes widening a fraction, the sandy blonde haired demon cast his gaze away.

"I know about your mate and child. Iya told me about them when he returned from his visit a few years ago. He mentioned your mate was pregnant and the two of you were expecting your first child, that you were excited to hear about it."

Taking a deep breath in a failing attempt to calm his anger, the hanyou snapped "You want me to kill someone's mate and father just because you failed in your duty to protect some lazy prick who probably doesn't give two shits about you! I refuse to oblige that person for such foolish pretenses."

Shaking as he clenched his right hand shut to the point it pricked his skin and drew blood from his palm, the hanyou grit out with sadness and anger in his words "I never knew my father because he gave his life to protect my mother and me. I know the pain of growing up without a parent and how it is to watch your mother suffer with the loss of a mate."

"My mother, she suffered long and hard until I was five years old from the loss of my father, her mate. That loss no doubt shortened her life. She raised me up till I was five years old, but at that point, the loss was too much for her to bear and her health declined rapidly."

Tamping down his anger the best he could, he added "I lost both of them at such a young age that it no doubt changed me. When I found my own mate, I swore that I would protect them with my life. If I had to die protecting them, I would, but otherwise, I will not die and leave them alone with that pain. Just knowing the pain they would go through, I couldn't even begin to think about doing it."

Staring down at the badly injured lion demon, Inuyasha ground out "You do what you want, but I will not have that kind of thing on my conscious. I can think of no worse fate than to do such a thing to one's mate and children. If you feel so strongly that you can't live anymore, do it by your own hand, but I won't have any part of it."

Sheathing his sword as he turned away, the hanyou couldn't help but inwardly groan at the pain that he felt from his wounds. Taking a few steps away, he came to a stop and turned around to stare at the lion demon once more.

After what seemed like an eternity, but was only a few minutes, Cloud raised his head and softly said "Your words hold much meaning, however, my fate is inescapable. I will no doubt be punished for being a part in guarding Lord Sasuke. I know that I will be imprisoned or most likely put to death. I will be unable to see my family, regardless of what my choice is now."

"Fate is bullshit and you know it. You won't die nor be imprisoned." Inuyasha stated in a matter fact voice. "I'll see that not only you are not punished, but that your mate and child are excused also. My asshole brother and the wimpy wolf will listen to me. They'll see that you are not one of the ones that caused the troubles in the Eastern Lands, but that you simply fulfilled your duty as the bodyguard to the Eastern Lord. I give you my word that I will protect you and your family from any punishment."

Digesting the words of dog hanyou, the lion demon slightly nodded his head and weakly smiled. "You are truly an honorable and gracious man. Thank you."

"Feh, whatever." the hanyou gruffly muttered. "Let's get out of here and find you a healer before you bleed to death."

**Thanks everyone for reading the chapter. Now, if you could do me a kind favor and review to let me know what you think of the chapter, I'd appreciate it. Till next time!**


	17. Chapter 17: Ultimate Despair

**Hello once more everyone! House buying is frustrating sometimes. The bank my mate and I are going through decided the insurance company we had picked out weren't going to insure the house for the loan and thus demanded we get one that would. This is just peachy since the only other company that would that my mate found quickly was Nationwide and they asked for way too much. After a little more digging, she found the perfect match and we signed up on it, so the bank is happy once more. We close on our house next Monday (16th), so yay. Then two weeks later we get the house (the current residents get 2 weeks to move out). It's all good, other than the fact we have to pack up. I hate packing...**

**Writing wise, I'm slowly moving along with the chapters. It's just difficult with all that's going on at work and home to get a chance to write, and when I have time, I'm not in the mood either. So frustrating at times.**

**Thank you both Hibikari and auronsword for reviewing the previous chapter. It means a lot when I see reviews coming in.**

**Well, I'm done for now. Btw, check out the bottom of this chapter for a little cut scene for how things could have gone during it. Thanks to everyone who reviews this round. Enjoy!**

**Meanings for certain words:**

_**Resurrección: Segunda Etapa = Resurrection Second Stage**_

_**Licht Regen = Rain of Light**_

_**Denkou Taifuu = Lightning Typhoon**_

**Chapter 17**

"Damn persistent guards." Ichigo growled as he glanced over his shoulder.

Ahead of the quarter bobcat, Iya led the way through the Southern Keep, but trailing the pair was a contingent of guards. They had been following only a short distance, however it was the seventh contingent they had to get rid of. The previous contingents had been knocked out by the pair, yet it seemed that no matter how many they knocked down, new ones would fill the void.

Taking hold of the hilt of Ketsaiga, Iya smoothly said "Ichigo, go ahead of me. I'll slow them down."

"Wait a second, I thought you said we weren't going to waste power on the guards!"

Smirking, the dog hanyou smartly replied "I did, however, I'll make sure to only stop them from following, not engage them."

Skidding to a stop and letting his bobcat partner ahead, the hanyou turned to face the guards. As he did, he drew his sword and transformed it into it's halberd form. Immediately, he called forth Ketsaiga's icy form, with ice coating the blade and frosty steam pouring off of it. Raising it up, he quickly struck the ground with the tip of the blade.

"Ice Barrier."

Filling the corridor instantly was a massive wall of four foot thick ice. The ice spread completely across the corridor, effectively sealing it off from the guards.

Reversing his blade's form to a small katana, he returned it to it's sheath and nodded his head as he sharply said "That should do."

"Not bad, Iya."

"Thanks. Let's go."

000

000

Finding themselves coming upon a large room, the quarter demon and dog hanyou glanced around, checking for enemies. Finding none, the pair slowly entered into the massive room.

"What is this place?" Ichigo questioned.

"We're in the area where the Lord of the South would speak with council, host receptions, etc, etc. It's just a big room used for whatever. I don't remember much about it to be honest."

Nodding his head, the quarter demon glanced around some more before he heard his partner declared "We're getting close."

"Yeah, I can tell. Which way?"

Staring straight ahead at the stairwell across the massive room, Iya pointed at it and smoothly said "We go up that stairwell. Lord Aikamaru is on the roof of the Southern Keep. I'm willing to bet he's thinking Sesshomaru will come to him."

"Arrogant prick, isn't he?" the quarter demon bantered.

"Hn."

Walking along with only the sound of their footsteps echoing throughout the room, the pair slid their eyes to meet each others.

Without warning, a blur of black and silver came barreling down towards the pair from the ceiling. The blur revealed he held a normal length katana and had it drawn back ready to kill both the hanyou and quarter demon. Upon them at last, it slashed out at the pair, only to have them dodge effortlessly to each side of the unknown assailant.

Turning his gaze to the blur, which now was revealed to be a tall silver haired demon, Iya took in his appearance. The demon had butt length silky hair, with his long bangs reaching down to his chin in length, but did not cover his face or seemingly get in his way. His pale skin gleamed in the sunlight that filtered into the room and revealed he had cold light blue eyes. He wore a black shiny leather trench coat that reached his lower calves in length, silver metal shoulder pads, black gloves, a black undershirt and pants, and a pair of black boots. Hanging diagonally behind him was an empty black sheath.

"I was wondering when you'd show yourself, Sephiroth." Iya stated in a nonchalant tone as his muddy brown eyes met the light blue for a moment.

Seemingly uninterested, Sephiroth curtly replied "You are intruding, half breed."

Letting out a soft sigh mixed with a chuckle, the dog hanyou smirked and remarked "Already with the insults, eh? Not surprising."

"Where is Lord Sesshomaru?" the silver haired demon questioned.

"Out on the battlefield, most likely. Who knows, he may have gotten killed since we entered into the keep."

Unchanged by the words of the hanyou, the demon coolly stated "You will not proceed. Lord Aikamaru has no time for mongrels."

"That's rather harsh, Sephiroth." Iya retorted in a feigned hurt manner. "After all, you yourself are not a pure bred demon, but one formed from two different types. What, with you being half dog demon and half sky demon, I'd think you would understand the plight of a hanyou better than anyone else."

"Do not place me in any category with you filthy vermin. I am unique and far more powerful than either a pure blood dog demon or sky demon."

"That pride of yours is what will defeat you." the dog hanyou answered in a solemn tone. "We don't have time to waste with the likes of you. Step aside."

Visibly riled, the hybrid demon harshly demanded "What did you say!"

"For someone with strong hearing in their genes, you should have heard what he said." Ichigo interjected. In a bored tone, he added "Iya, let me deal with this guy since he doesn't seem to want to listen to reason."

"Fair enough. Just make sure you win."

Throwing a cocky smirk back at his partner, the quarter bobcat cheekily remarked "Always. Just go on ahead and settle things with the Lord of the South."

Nodding his head, the hanyou took off in the direction of the stairwell he had pointed out earlier to his partner. Right as he was nearing it, the silver haired hybrid demon came flying towards him with his blade drawn up and ready to strike. Before he could, the quarter demon was in front of him and drew his own sword from his back. As the bandages unwrapped from the blade, he brought it in front of himself and used it to parry the hybrid demon.

Not even flinching as the sparks that flew from the blades clashing spattered to the ground, the orange haired quarter demon firmly stated "Your fight is with me!"

Grinding his sword against the quarter demon's massive cleaver shaped blade, the hybrid demon growled out "Move."

"No." Ichigo defiantly retorted. Shoving roughly with all his strength, he sent the demon skidding backwards about eighteen feet. Shifting into a defensive stance, he added "I told you already, your fight is with me. If you want to go after Iya then defeat me."

Shooting forward in the blink of an eye, the hybrid demon was upon the quarter demon. His blade was poised to take the head of the quarter demon off, but was instead blocked by the cleaver blade of his opponent. A brief flicker of shock flashed through his eyes as his blade continued to grind against the large sword that had parried him.

"Anxious to get past me, aren't you?" Ichigo cockily questioned.

Pushing off and retreating a short distance, the silver haired demon coolly said "It seems you have a little skill. For that, I shall tell you my name. I am Sephiroth Dissida, bodyguard to the Lord of the Southern Lands."

"I'm Ichigo Kurosaki." the quarter bobcat curtly responded.

Shifting into a ready stance, Sephiroth smoothly said "Try not to make this too long, filth. I must catch up to that half breed."

"Just try and keep up."

Vanishing in a flash, the orange haired fighter came flying in towards the silver haired demon from above with his cleaver blade raised up over his head. Smashing his blade into his opponent's, he let out a slight gasp when the hybrid demon wasn't didn't move an inch. Grinding his blade roughly against the smaller one of his opponent, he pushed off and quickly gathered himself up for another attack. He was once more blocked as a shower of sparks spread onto the cold stone floor of the room and the sound of steel sang out.

"Too easy." Sephiroth stated as he vanished and left behind the sound of a small boom.

Reappearing directly behind his orange haired opponent, he thrust his sword forward with intention to run said adversary through. Instead, his blade struck the broad side of the quarter demon's cleaver shaped zanpakutō. The two blades ground against one another for several long moments until the hybrid demon decided to fall back to a safe distance.

Flashing a cocky smile, the quarter demon asked "Did you think I couldn't follow your movements?"

"Did you think your sluggish speed could catch me?" the hybrid demon snidely retorted.

"Funny." the orange haired man quipped.

Rushing forward, the quarter demon swung out as hard as he could at his opponent. The two fighters swords met in a thunderous clash and they struggled to push the other back, each wanting to show the other they were the dominant fighter.

Flashing away with a booming sound left behind, the hybrid demon reappeared behind his opponent and intended to stab him, only to watch the quarter demon vanish in a flash. He soon reappeared high above his opponent with his zanpakutō drawn above his head and light blue demonic energy flowing over the blade.

In a furious downward swing, Ichigo screamed "Getsuga Tenshō!"

Flaring forward in a high density beam of light blue demonic energy was a crescent moon shaped blade. The beam tore downwards towards the somewhat surprised hybrid demon. With only a split second to spare, he vanished from where he had stood. The attack cut deep into the floor of the room, sending a spray of stone and dust flying throughout the air and an unmistakable deep crater.

Reappearing a few seconds later, Sephiroth surveyed the destruction from the attack and the form of a slightly panting quarter demon. After several moments of silence, he smoothly declared "You do have power, quarter breed, but none that can harm me. I will demonstrate to you the difference in our powers. But fear not, for your life shall end in a very few short moments."

Glowing with a silver aura as his power rose up, the demon suddenly vanished in a booming sound. He soon reappeared only five feet behind the quarter demon, who had a shocked look on his face as he tried to spin around to face his opponent.

"_Shit, he's fast now!_" was the only thought going through Ichigo's mind as he managed to barely swing around and block a stab meant to pierce his heart with his zanpakutō.

Suddenly vanishing with only a booming sound left behind, the hybrid demon materialized fifteen feet away from the off balanced quarter demon. He charged forward with his aura still flaring and coat flapping in the wind.

Managing to parry the hard charge, the quarter demon let out a guttural grow as he attempted to counter the move, only to find his opponent gone again. Eyes widening, he shifted his body ever so slightly to the right just as a blade meant to impale him grazed against his ribs on the left side.

Flashing away as he lightly panted and checked himself for the damage done, the orange haired quarter demon muttered "Just a flesh wound."

"You surprise me, trash. To dodge such an attack is surely a miracle."

"Hardly." Ichigo grunted back. "I saw through your move. Only problem is, my body couldn't respond in time to effectively dodge it."

Smirking, Sephiroth smugly replied "Is that so? Then perhaps I should put you down now."

"I'd like to see you try it."

With his statement made, the orange haired man suddenly turned loose of his sword and grabbed hold of the white cloth that hung from the hilt. Taking some of the loose cloth in his left hand, he raised the right above his head and began spinning the sword by it's cloth. The blade soon became like a saw disk spinning to his right side.

Flicking his right wrist, the quarter demon launched the blade straight forward at the silver haired demon. The demon attempted to block it, only to find all the force behind it was too much to truly hold back. Using his sword, he pushed it aside and sent the blade past his body.

"Got ya!" Ichigo declared as he jerked the blade back. He curved the path so that it came in to behead his silver haired opponent. Instead, the hybrid demon vanished in a booming sound and reappeared directly behind the quarter demon like before.

Smirking, the quarter demon flashed away but allowed his sword to continue towards his rival with the hilt facing him. Reappearing, he jerked on the cloth in his right hand still and turned the blade around to face his opponent. "Not this time!"

Disappearing again, the hybrid demon materialized standing thirty feet above the ground. He watched as the quarter demon returned his weapon to his hands with a look of boredom reflecting in his eyes. Vanishing once more, he reappeared in front of the orange haired man with his blade up over his head.

Quick to react, Ichigo raised his sword up and blocked the attack meant to split him in two. Using his left hand to hold the sword and right to brace the back of the sword, he lightly grunted as the two blades impacted with one another. Feeling himself being pushed back, he summoned his light blue demonic aura and pushed the blade away before retreating a short distance away from his adversary.

Panting lightly as he stared down his opponent, the quarter bobcat took in a deep breath and dismissed his demonic aura. "You're really something else. I knew I was expecting too much when I thought perhaps I could beat you using only my Shikai, but I had to try. After all, I've been doing a lot of training using only it and thought I had improved enough to the point I could beat someone with it alone, but I see I'm not going to have much choice if I want to win."

"I guess it can't be helped. I have to quit holding back so much if I'm going to win. Let me show you something that I'm sure you've only heard rumors of."

Holding his zanpakutō out away from his body and pointing it directly at his opponent, Ichigo firmly declared "Bankai!"

The white cloth from his hilt immediately wrapped tightly around his right arm all the way up to his shoulder. A fierce black demonic aura with red mixed in flared about his body and soon engulfed him completely. Nearly thirty seconds went by before the flame like aura receded to reveal the quarter demon standing in the same place. His clothing had changed, with his kimono top changing into a long black trench coat with tattered ends and red on the inside of it. The sword in his right hand was no longer a halberd, but a small sleek black katana that had a manji shaped cross guard with four prongs. On the end of the pommel, a half a foot of chain with the last link in it broken rattled.

"Tensa Zangetsu." Ichigo proudly stated.

Cocking an eyebrow, Sephiroth smoothly said "So that is the fabled Bankai that defeated Kenshin Himura and Riku Xehanort. I heard from General Ulquiorra Cifer that it was not much to behold. It seems he was right. What a useless transformation."

Unaffected by his opponent's words, the quarter demon brazenly replied "I wouldn't get too confident about such things. You haven't even seen it in action yet."

Smirking at the end of his sentence, Ichigo suddenly appeared directly in front of Sephiroth with his blade drawn out to his right side. The hybrid demon only had a moment's notice to react. It didn't rattle him one bit, or if it did, he chose not to show it as he brought his blade up and parried the attack.

Not done, the quarter demon launched into a series of one handed slashes and thrusts. Flashes of his blade cutting through the air could be seen, along with when the two swords made contact and a shower of sparks would pour down from the impact. However, each attack was countered or evaded by his adversary. Far from finished, the orange haired man pressed his attack, his attacks each increasing in speed.

Finding himself forced backwards as they continued to battle mid-air, Sephiroth flashed away with a booming sound left behind. Upon rematerializing, he found his opponent waiting directly in front of him with a cocky grin on his face.

"Took you long enough."

Showing no facial expression, the dog/sky demon swung out at the orange haired man. His attack missed, but he pressed onwards with a flurry of slashes and stabs, making it known his intention was to kill the quarter demon by any means necessary.

With each attack, Ichigo merely side stepped or blocked the attack meant to strike him down with ease. All at once, he vanished and reappeared several feet away. Crouching down mid-air, he charged forward with his sword out to the side. Swinging hard as he could, he slammed his blade into the hybrid demon's. His opponent suddenly vanished like he had before.

Turning around, the quarter demon reached out as the silver haired man reappeared. Grasping hold of his opponent's sword he spotted the surprise and shock filling up in the eyes of the hybrid demon. Cracking a smirk, he declaratively stated "Caught you."

Raising his sword up with a bit of light glinting off of the black blade, he swung downwards and cut through the fabric of his opponent's coat. At the same time, he felt his opponent wrench their sword free and retreat, but it was too late. His black blade made a shallow gash through the hybrid demon's skin.

Reaching a safe distance of thirteen feet, Sephiroth reached up with his free hand and placed it over the gash in his coat to find a small amount of blood leaking from his wound. Clenching his hand shut, he cast a fierce glare at the proud quarter demon.

"That skin of yours sure is tough." Ichigo commented. "If I had to guess, you use the same technique that Neliel and Ulquiorra that hardens your skin for combat. It's nowhere near as thick as theirs, but it's still a real pain in the ass to have to cut through. Hell, I barely even grazed you with that attack in all actuality."

Remaining silent for several moments until at last he spoke up, Sephiroth smoothly said "I see, so you have. I admit it, your Bankai is impressive, Ichigo Kurosaki. As a reward, allow me to show you something. It is something that only Cloud Strife and Lord Aikamaru have seen. All others that have seen it are dead."

"I will show you my Resurrección. Do not worry though, for your death will follow swiftly afterwards, so relax."

Holding his sword horizontally out in front of his body and bracing it with his left hand, Sephiroth coolly said "Assassinate Masamune."

Immediately, the blade of the hybrid demon began pouring out silver demonic energy. The aura completely coated the sword and ran itself over the body of the demon. He was soon completely engulfed in the aura with his hair swaying in the wind generated from his release. All at once, a wispy black smoke enveloped his body and hid him completely from view.

Bit by bit, the smoke started to dissipate, revealing the new form of the hybrid demon. Growing out from his back was a single black feathered wing. The rip in his coat was now repaired and his wound healed. As well, the sword in his hand had lengthened to six foot in length, making it seem that much more formidable than it's previous katana form.

Staring at his opponent with eyes wide, Ichigo couldn't help but become lost in his thoughts over the transformation. "_What the hell! He hasn't changed all that much. I mean, he grew a black wing and his sword changed, but that's it. When Neliel released her sword, she changed far more than he did, and from what I heard from the others, these sort of releases revert a demon back to a form resembling their true form. So what is this? Does that mean his true form is similar, or is he holding back still?_"

"Do not lose focus."

Eyes narrowing as he realized the silver haired demon was directly in front of him with his elongated sword in mid-swing, the quarter demon raised his sword up with all the speed he could muster and managed to barely parry the attack. The sheer force behind the swing sent him skidding backwards as he tried desperately to push back and stop himself. Digging his back leg in with all his might, he at last brought the skid to a halt, but it was all he could do to just hold back the long sword.

"Shit..." he grunted out as he flashed away to get some distance. Getting a sense of impending doom, he gasped when he noticed his rival was several yards ahead of him.

Stretching his wing out, Sephiroth coolly asked "Going somewhere, trash?"

Still spooked, Ichigo took several backwards skipping steps to gain a gap. Holding his sword tightly with both hands, he kept his gaze locked on the hybrid demon.

"I hope I haven't frightened you already, quarter breed. I want the pleasure of carving you up after the humiliation you've put me through. For me to have to release my zanpakutō for a lowly piece of trash like you is absurd. You will regret that mistake."

000

000

"Hold pressure down on his wound! I'll heal it, but I need you to try and stop the bleeding!" Kagome commanded a young soldier that was standing near her.

Nodding to her, the soldier took hold of the cloth rag she had given him and put pressure down on the wound that cut deep into a wolf demon's chest. The wounded demon screamed out in pain as he clenched his eyes shut.

"Hang in there Tsume, you just have to. Remember your mate and pups! I know for a fact you promised to come home, so don't you give up on them!" the younger wolf demon demanded.

Gritting his teeth as he stopped his yelling, Tsume ground out "I won't..."

Moving her now pink glowing hands over the wound, Kagome's face became deeply etched in concentration as her miko powers poured out and started to repair the deep wound. Gradually, the wound commenced to closing up and mending itself. Sweat trickled down the sides of her face as she continued to pour out her power.

"_There are so many injured. Tsunade and me can barely keep up. At this rate, we'll both be too exhausted to save the truly critically wounded. Kiba is one of the lucky ones that got to me with bad wounds. All I can do is just pray to Kami that this battle ends soon._"

Inspecting the wound and finding it had closed up and the bleeding had stopped, the miko hanyou let out a soft sigh of relief and quietly said "You can stop, Toboe."

Acknowledging her, the younger wolf demon released his hold on the elder wolf demon's wound to find that it was completely closed. Letting out a sigh of relief, he turned to the miko hanyou and bowed deeply.

"Thank you for saving him, Lady Kagome."

Waving him off as she turned to leave and find more critically wounded, she stated "There is no need to be so formal. I'm just doing what I can to save lives."

000

000

Evading yet another attack form a lance meant to skewer him, Shippou spun around quickly with all his strength and cleaved the head of the neko demon he had been hung up fighting against cleanly off. Blood splashed to the ground and covered his naginata's blade, which he was quick to flick away. Panting lightly, he lowly growled as three more neko demons came running towards him, each ready for a fight.

"Damn, this never ends." he muttered under his breath.

Readying himself, he suddenly heard someone yell "Move Shippou! Katon, Goukakyuu!"

Leaping backwards upon hearing his name and said words, the fox demon watched as the three neko demons were caught up a in massive orange fireball. All three were killed instantly from the impact, with only the remains of husk like bodies left behind.

Spotting two nekos fast approaching Ryo, who had saved him, Shippou took to the air as green flames started to dance around his body. Holding his right hand out, he formed a massive sphere of green flames and drew back his arm. With all his might, he threw it forward and launched the flames towards the two neko demons.

"Fox Fire Inferno!"

Scoring a hit, the green flames engulfed the pair of nekos, they screams echoing throughout the battlefield as they dropped to the ground and tried desperately to put the fire out. It was all in vain as they soon became still and their bodies were reduced to ash.

Panting lightly as he touched down onto the ground directly behind the dog mage, he called out in a raspy voice "This seems to have no end."

"Agreed." Ryo commented. "We just have to hold out a while longer. I can tell the enemies forces are most definitely thinning down."

Hearing incoming enemy soldiers, the two threw a look at once another before nodding and charging forward with their weapons drawn.

000

000

Shifting his stance a bit as he edged his large blade in front of his body, Yukio studied Ulquiorra's unmoving form. A small trickle of sweat ran down the side of his face as he tried to remain calm.

"_I know he's strong but we can take him. I know we can. And if comes down to it, I always have my ace in the hole to use._"

"Do you truly think three versus one will make a difference?"

Regarding the emotionless bat demon, Kouga smirked and remarked "Even you have to admit that this battle isn't in your favor anymore. Come along quietly."

Unchanged by the statement, the bat demon coolly replied "I see. Lord Kouga, those are the words of a man truly ignorant of true despair. "

Stretching his wings out as a wind kicked up around his body, the general's body was enveloped by his black and emerald colored aura. His eyes suddenly changed from their cold emerald into emerald sclera with yellow irises and slit pupils.

"Allow me to educate you."

Without warning, the pale skinned demon's tunic started to be ripped away to reveal his pale colored chest. Black fur grew over portions of his body, namely over his hands up to his upper arms and over his legs to just above his hips. Before more results could be seen, the black and emerald aura completely engulfed him to hide the results of the transformation he was undergoing.

The aura soon faded to reveal that there were several new changes to the bat demon's body. He now had a whip like tail that was several feet long and had a small tuft of fur on the end making it look like the tip of a whip chain. The tear like markings on his face had changed to black and elongated further down. Trailing down his chest looked like a river of black ooze to where his fur began at his hips, but in essence was essentially another demonic marking. Twin coat like tails that shot out to each side made of fur lightly rustled in the breeze still being generated. On his head, the helmet like structure he once had was no longer there, but instead two bat like ears jutted into the air. His feet had changed also, with him not wearing boots but now having claw like toes and a dewclaw. The claws on his hand had also elongated and seemed much sharper than previously.

"Resurrección: Segunda Etapa."

Shifting uncomfortably, the three facing the bat demon couldn't shake an unnerving feeling they got from the form.

"I am the only demon in the history of Japan that has develop a second release. Even Lord Sasuke has not seen me in this form."

Noticing each seemingly tightening their grips on their weapons, Ulquiorra smoothly added "Yet despite this, the three of you still have the will to fight?"

Receiving no answer, the bat demon took a single step forward. "Very well. I will turn your bodies to dust if that's what it takes to make you understand."

Vanishing suddenly and reappearing twenty feet behind and above the transformed demon, Uryū already had a pink glowing energy arrow notched in his spider web like bow and drawn back to fire. With a loud yell, he released it and sent it soaring for the back of the bat demon to where his heart would reside.

Without even looking, the bat demon swatted the attack away with his wing harmlessly. The arrow's energy dispersed and had no effect on the wing at all. Slowly, he glanced over his shoulder with an unemotional look in his eyes at the Quincy, as if challenging him.

Drawing back his bow again, the Quincy shot over thirty pink energy arrows at the bat demon in one release. At the same time on the ground, the bat demon used his right wing to shield his body again from the barrage.

Arrow after arrow either dispersed or smashed harmlessly to the ground with a slight explosion following up after it. Dust filled the air from the barrage and hid the results.

Taking full advantage, Uryū flashed away and reappeared much higher than before and was directly over the area where the bat demon was. Pink aura gathered inwards towards his bow as he drew it back.

Eyes widening at this, Yukio screamed "MOVE IT KOUGA!"

Realizing the danger he was in almost at the same time, Kouga followed after the dog hanyou to seek shelter.

Noting his comrades were clear of the area, Uryū yelled out "Licht Regen!"

Upon the human releasing his bow string, a storm of arrows rained down in a massive enclosed cylinder like structure. The numbers of the arrows could not be counted as they poured down into the area surrounding the bat demon and pummeled him and the ground.

Moving over towards where his comrades was, the Quincy fell to the ground and neatly landed on the balls of his feet. He soon fell to one knee and began panting hard as sweat poured down the sides of his face.

"You idiot, did it ever occur to you that you might actually hit us too!" Yukio spat.

Panting heavily still, the Quincy weakly smiled and smugly replied "I thought you may move on your own."

Letting out a grunt the hanyou suddenly stiffened, as did the demon lord. Footsteps could be heard as the dust still filled the air and hid the results. Slowly, the footsteps came closer till the bat demon stepped out to reveal he was completely unscathed from the encounter with the young human.

"Not a scratch..." Uryū rasped. "Those were all Sacred Arrows, yet nothing. Damn, what is he?"

In an even tone, Ulquiorra coolly said "Of my three opponents, I thought you would not act so rashly. You, a human, should know that you do not have the power necessary to defeat a demon of my caliber."

Calming his breathing while he stood up, the Quincy smoothly replied "I'm not acting rashly. That is why I'll be able to handle you."

Rushing forward without warning, Yukio swung his sword with intention of cleaving the bat demon in half. He was instead stopped as his blade was caught in the hand of the general. His claws scrapped against the steel, sending sparks flaring to the ground as he brought the attack to a grinding halt.

Struggling to push, the hanyou lowly growled as he stared into the yellow eyes of his opponent. He then stopped growling and smirked as the wolf demon appeared only four feet away from the bat demon. The clawed weapon on his right hand was glowing with fierce golden demonic energy as he drew it above his head.

"GORAISHI!"

Slashing downwards in an arc, the demon lord shot a full powered shot of golden demonic energy with light blue lightning roaring off of it at the general. Seeing the incoming attack, the hanyou was quick to leap back away just as the blast engulfed the bat demon. A massive explosion rocked the clearing, sending dust and debris flying about it.

Softly panting and grinning deviously, the wolf demon smugly stated "You shouldn't take your eyes off me. Don't forget, I am the Lord of the Northern Lands."

"I have not forgotten that fact, Lord Kouga." a voice called out. All at once, the dust was dispelled and revealed an unharmed bat demon.

Eyes widening at this fact, the demon lord took a few steps backwards. At the same time, the bat demon turned towards him and took a couple of steps towards him also while sporting a disinterested look on his face.

Flashing to the side of the wolf demon with a tube like hilt and a light blue energy sword blade sticking out from it pointed at the general, the Quincy smirked softly. "It's not over."

"Oh? Do you think you've won, Quincy?"

Still smirking as he flipped his blade over so that it was pointing downwards, Uryū smartly replied "Yes, that's exactly what I think."

Falling to one knee and stabbing his blade into the ground, the Quincy kept his smirk plastered to his face as four other points of light blue demonic energy surrounding the bat demon flared to life and formed what looked like a pentagon. Each point shot forward and entangled around his feet and ran up to his knees. Realizing what was going on, he tried to take a step, finding he could not move an inch.

Pulling a small silver tube out from his cloak and showing it to the general, the human smoothly said "It's over."

Taking this as their cue, both the wolf demon and the hanyou readied their weapons and flew back several feet. Raising his halberd up over his head, his white demonic aura flared to life and sent his cloak rustling in the air. The very air around him became thicker from the immense demonic aura pouring out from the blade itself.

"Take this! Denkou Taifuu!"

At the same time to the other side of the Quincy, the wolf lord has his clawed hand raised as golden demonic energy swirled around it. Sending almost all his power into the claws, he swiped downwards and shouted out "GORAISHI!"

Flying away from the blade of the hanyou was a swirling dark gray typhoon with yellow electricity flaring off of it and within it seemed. It tore the very ground asunder as it bounded directly towards the immobile bat demon.

Simultaneously, the wolf demon's blast of golden energy with lightning flaring off it tore the ground apart and roared directly in the same direction.

Just as the two attacks were about to meet at the bat demon, the Quincy squeezed the silver container in his fingers and tipped it so that light blue liquid poured out of it. Just a drop touched the hilt of the energy blade and caused all five blades to send a massive wave of energy flying towards the center of the pentagon.

As one, the three attacks met and consumed the bat demon in a massive, hellish blast of blinding light. The pentagon then shot a beam of energy skyward, seemingly cutting off all contact from the internal parts of it.

All three warriors fell back to watch the spectacular light show that continued for several minutes. Each was heavily panting and all three was on at least one knee, along with sweat pouring down and soaking their bodies.

"Did that do it?" Uryū questioned.

Staring intently at the cloud of dust and smoke that was pouring out from where the explosion had taken place, Yukio muttered "We had better inflicted some kind of damage. At this pace, we won't last too long against him."

"Agreed. I fought him for quite a while before you two joined up. He's tough." Kouga stated.

Not letting their guard down, the three were back on their feet and awaited the results of their combined attack. A minute passed before the three heard the sound of footsteps.

Becoming visible as he walked out of the dust and smoke filled battlefield was Ulquiorra. His body appeared to have no damage on it, not even a single mark. At this, the three couldn't help but gape at the bat demon.

"Not a scratch..." Uryū mumbled in shock. "How is this possible?"

Coming to a stop as he regarded the three for a moment, the bat demon smoothly asked "Is that it? Finished already?"

Receiving no answer other than in the form of the three preparing their weapons, Ulquiorra coolly said "Yes, I do believe you three are done. Allow me to teach you that lesson I spoke of earlier."

Vanishing instantly, he reappeared directly to the left side of the Quincy. Reaching out, he took hold of his wrist and examined it momentarily. It was all the human could do to not scream as cold, uncaring yellow eyes bore into his dark blue ones.

In a simple motion, the bat demon tore half of the young human's left arm off and tossed it aside before smacking him in the face with his tail and sending him crashing through a tree. Blood splashed to the ground and a ear shattering scream could be heard from Uryū before he tore through the tree and passed out.

"Uryū!" Yukio screamed while he charged the bat demon. Before he could even reach his opponent he lost sight of him.

Reappearing directly in front of the hanyou suddenly, the bat demon plunged his left clawed hand through the hanyou's gut. A deep gasp of pain could be heard from the hanyou as the general removed his hand and threw a power laden kick into the left side of his adversary. The crunching sound of bones breaking immediately filled the air, accompanied by the sound of grinding teeth. The sheer force of the kick sent the hanyou flying away and smashing through several trees before coming to rest up against one.

Rushing towards the bat demon with Goraishi ready to slash him to pieces, the wolf demon screamed out "You bastard, you'll pay for that!"

Glancing over his shoulder nonchalantly at the charging demon, Ulquiorra vanished once more and appeared a few feet from the wolf demon. The wolf demon's momentum kept him moving forward into the awaiting grasp of the general, who took hold of the demon lord by the throat and held him up in the air. His sharp nails pricked the demon lord's skin around his throat but he paid no heed.

"It is useless."

Growling fiercely, Kouga fought to free himself by grabbing hold of the bat demon's wrist with both his hands and tried to dig the metal claws of his weapon into the general's skin. He was undeterred when his blades did not even draw blood as he fought to free himself.

Seeing the actions of the demon he held by the throat, Ulquiorra drew the demon lord in closer before throwing him high into the air. Raising his right hand and pointing towards the wolf with his index finger, the bat demon started drawing black demonic energy mixed with emerald into the tip of his claw. A small sphere quickly formed with bolts of black and emerald energy flaring off of it.

"I told you it is useless! Farewell, Lord of the Northern Lands. Cero Oscuras."

Launching instantly towards the airborne wolf demon was a wide beam of black and emerald colored demonic energy. The size and power of the beam itself seemed unreal and readied itself to completely consume anything in it's path.

"_So this is it?_" Kouga asked in his mind. A few tears rolled down his cheeks as he squeezed his aqua eyes shut tightly. "_Ayame... My beautiful mate. I have failed not only as the Lord of the Northern Lands, but as your mate and father to our children. For that, I am truly sorry. I pray to Kami that you find happiness once more._"

Watching the blast engulf the Northern Lord, the bat demon's eyes slowly slid over to his far left as he noted a new figure landed. The figure had the form of the wolf demon cradled in her arms.

Realizing he wasn't dead, Kouga eyes snapped open to find hazel eyes staring down at him with worry in their eyes. Realization dawned on the wolf demon after a moment as the figure's scent wafted into his nose, making him slightly gasp in surprise.

"Lady Neliel?"

**Thanks everyone for reading the chapter. Now, if you could do me a kind favor and review to let me know what you think of the chapter, I'd appreciate it.**

**And now for everyone's enjoyment, here is a little outtake that my beta reader, mcsnellies came up with. When he first told it to me, I couldn't help but laugh at it since it was something I had kind of thought about.**

In a simple motion, the bat demon tore half of the young human's left arm. Flipping it around so that the hand was held out instead of the stump, he backhanded Uryū across the face.

"Quit hitting yourself, quit hitting yourself!" Ulquiorra childishly declared with each slap.

"CUT! Ulquiorra, you're completely out of character!" the author states.

Throwing a childish pouting face at the author, he pleadingly replied "But I'm so freaking emo and sad looking! I want to be happy!"

Receiving a flashing smile and big thumbs up from the bat demon, the author sweat drops before shaking his head and saying "We're going for another take. Uryū, duct tape your arm back on so we can wrap this up."

Grabbing the arm out of the bat demon's grasp, the Quincy growled out "Damn it, why does everyone go for my left arm! The author seems to have forgotten that it's still broken since _**Reunion**_ was over!"

"Yeah, kind of forgot. You'll be alright. Just slap another layer of duct tape on it and it'll be good as new."

**And there you have it, my attempt at an outtake. Till next time!**


	18. Chapter 18: Clash of Ideals

**Hey gang. Sorry this chapter is a day or two late from when I usually post. It's been a very, very long week. We have a project at work that was due to be wrapped up by Friday, but it's a project that truly needed more time than we had. We only got two and a half weeks to work on it. It was mostly just a reface on a previous set of pages we had that forms our companies Wiki. The number of pages was small, so we thought we could pull it off, but so much stuff came up during the project that it would have been nice to have had more time on it. Not to mention my boss and one coworker were about to drive me insane Wednesday with how a certain button should function. Plus add on the frustration of things at home with my mate and I getting ready to move, then you have the perfect concoction for a long and tiring week.**

**Also, my grandfather landed in the hospital yesterday evening. He gave us all quite a scare to be honest. He's the one that had the stroke nearly four years ago, so any little thing that happens could be big. Last evening, he had a seizure that scared my grandmother to death. She called for an ambulance and had him taken to the hospital. They checked him out and found no damage was done, however they did warn that this could be a recurrence now. The threat of this has always been there, but for it to pop up randomly was a shock. I went to the hospital as quick as I could. My mom, who lives in Richmond, VA, decided to come up though the danger was over when she made that choice. My sister and her husband, who live near Pittsburg, PA, came down too. They went back last night, but it was only a two hour drive for them, unlike mom's six hour. Anyways, grandpa is fine and got to go home last night, though they did put him on some medicine for seizures and he'll need blood work done Tuesday to make sure things are good with it.**

**Anyways, enough about my life. I'm sure I've bored you all to death. Writing is creeping along. Due to being so busy at work, I've barely got any done. In fact, it took me three days to just proof read this chapter. Ugh, so irritating. But real life always comes first to me and I think the same thing for readers too, so no worries.**

**Thanks to both Kattana and auronsword for your reviews. I truly appreciate them.**

**Well, that concludes my stuff for the week. Hope everyone has a good Memorial Day weekend. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 18**

"Are you alright, Lord Kouga?" Neliel question in a concerned tone as she kept her eyes trained on the bat demon that stared her down.

Getting up out of her arms and back onto his feet, Kouga slowly asked "Why are you here? I thought you wouldn't help us."

Turning to face the demoness, he smoothly added "Not that I'm not happy you're here now, but I thought you told me you wouldn't take part in this war at all."

"I did say that." the teal haired demoness answered as she cast a quick glance at the demon lord before flashing a faint smile. "The words Iya Taisho left me with are what swayed me. He told me of the genocide that the Eastern and Southern Lands have committed against anyone with human blood in their veins. His words left me pondering if I should continue to remain neutral or intervene."

Taking in a deep breath as her eyes fluttered shut, she slowly reopened them to reveal hardened hazel eyes. "I chose not to allow this to continue. He was right. This war does involve not only the Four Lands, but my sibling disciples. To allow this to continue would be dishonorable to the memory of my master."

Moving forward several yards before coming to a stop, the demoness stared down the transformed bat demon. In a curt tone, she said "Ulquiorra."

"Neliel." Ulquiorra acknowledged. "Tell me, why have you come here? I thought you wanted no part of this foolish war since it broke the wishes of our master."

Receiving no answer, the bat demon peered into the eyes of the teal haired buxom. "Well?"

Standing firm with her own hazel eyes staring back into the bat demon's yellow ones, the demoness proudly said "I came here to try and talk to you, to stop you from continuing to dishonor our master's ways and memory."

"Oh, that." the bat demon nonchalantly stated. "Have I not told you already that I can no longer follow the ways of our master?"

Nodding her head gently, the buxom responded "Yes, you have. However, there is always a chance for redemption. Stop what you are doing, Ulquiorra. It is never too late to return to the correct path."

Evenly staring his sibling disciple, the pale skinned demon curtly said "I have made my choice."

Letting out a soft sigh as she slid her eyes closed, the demoness reopened them and said "I knew most likely you would say that. Then I will tell you this."

Placing her right gloved hand onto the hilt of her sword, she firmly added "I cannot stand aside idly any longer after seeing and hearing what my sibling disciples have done. What Grimmjow and yourself are doing has dishonored our master. He would have killed you both had he still lived to see what the two of you have become."

"I have allowed both of you to live your lives up until now, but no more. For the crimes you have committed against the Four Lands, there will be no atonement that either of you could perform that would lessen your sins."

"Oh, do you think you can stop us?" Ulquiorra quipped.

Gently drawing her sword out as she replied, the demoness smoothly said "I will do what is necessary to maintain the peace."

As her blade reached the end of her sheath, Neliel swung it out in front of herself, causing it to whistle as it did so. Holding it up horizontally in front of herself, she firmly stated "This is your last chance, Ulquiorra. Do not take me lightly. I will stop you by force if I must."

Seemingly studying his fellow disciple for a few long moments, the bat demon remarked "You shall try."

At this said, Neliel hardened her eyes and brought her left hand up to support the back of her zanpakutō. A pink demonic aura instantly flared around the blade as a fell wind kicked up around her, sending her hair floating about her body and her white garment rustling.

In a cold, deathly tone, she said "Declare Gamuza."

Shooting out from her blade without warning was a blinding pink light that ripped up the ground and formed a massive sphere around the demoness's body, hiding her from view. The demonic energy destroyed and ripped the ground asunder and sent debris and dust scattering throughout the area.

Settling as suddenly as it had erupted, the pink aura retreated to reveal the demoness, whose form had drastically changed. The demoness's body had changed dramatically, with her lower half the most visible. No longer from her hips down were legs, but the bottom half of a tan colored horse, making her look more like a centaur. A black tail with a metal clamp near her rear swished through the air while four sharp hooves struck the ground. Covering her large chest now was a light green top that reached just below the curve of her breasts and revealed her toned flat stomach. Her arms were now covered in black glove like material that stretched from her hands to her shoulders. Covering her hands was thick white metallic armor. The same armor covered her elbow joints and formed shoulder pads and a collar to protect her shoulders. The horns on her mask changed as well, with them no longer pointed inwards, but pushed out so that the horns flowed out away from her body. In her right hand, a long, large twin sided lance rested. The lance itself had two sharp pointed ends, each looking menacing.

"Oh, you think that will stop me?"

"It will." Neliel coldly retorted. "Tell me, that form you have taken, what is it?"

In his monotone voice, Ulquiorra coolly replied "This is a form I have learned since I have left our master. It is called Resurrección: Segunda Etapa. I am the only demon to ever achieve it within Japan, thus making it a rarity. Does this form not frighten you? Does it not reveal to you the true despair that is about to befall you and that foolish demon lord behind you."

Stamping a hoofed foot into the ground, the demoness quipped "Not at all. You remember the fact that of the three of us, I was the most powerful. Master Yamamoto taught me things that neither Grimmjow nor you could ever hope to comprehend. Do not take me lightly, Ulquiorra."

"Nor you me." the bat demon stated as he leaned forward into a crouched position with one clawed hand touching the ground, his wings fully unfurled, and tail raised up.

Flashing away, the pair soon reappeared with the bat demon holding back the demoness's lance with his claws. Sparks flew from the fierce exchange, along with the sound of metal being scraped.

Vanishing again, the pair returned to sight up in the air and pressing against one another. Again and again, the two combatants disappeared, only to reappear in a deathly struggle against each other followed by the horrendous sound of claws meeting steel.

For nearly ten minutes, the two fighters continued to appear in glimpses, neither letting up or intending on quitting. At last, the two landed back on the ground with eight yards between them.

"You fight well, Neliel."

"As do you, Ulquiorra."

Raising his right hand and pointing his index finger at the centaur as black and emerald colored demonic aura built up on the tip of it in the shape of a sphere, the bat demon steadily said "Let's see how you deal with this. Cero Oscuras."

All at once, the sphere of black and emerald energy flashed forward in a massive beam of swirling energy. Staring it down with a disinterested look, the demoness seemed completely unfazed and stood her ground.

Using her left hand and holding it, the centaur demoness stopped the beam in it's tracks. The ground beneath her hooves seemed to give way from the intensity. Closing her eyes and opening her mouth to let out what sounded like a yawn, she began inhaling the dark energy. The beam was gradually sucked into her mouth until there was no trace of it.

Eyes snapping open, she opened her mouth and shot a beam of black and pink demonic energy straight back towards her opponent. Her beam was at least twice as fast as the bat demon's had been and seemed to be swollen with power.

Readying himself to block the attack, Ulquiorra drew his wings up protectively in front of his body and crossed his arms. He was hit head on by the powerful beam and completely swallowed up by it without leaving a trace of him to be seen. A massive explosion rocked the land as the beam widened out into a dome like structure that tore the ground to pieces. Debris scattered in all directions as the crater to which the dome created continued to widen.

At last, the explosion faded away, leaving dust and smoke floating in the air. Keeping a keen eye on the area where the explosion happened, the demoness panted lightly as she raised her lance up into a ready position.

"_That was intense... I've never seen so much power on display before. Hell, even Sesshomaru would be hard pressed to do something like that._" Kouga mumbled in awe.

Coming into view with the dust settling was the decrepit form of the once mighty general. Both of his wings and arms were missing, with him having two stumps near his shoulders. Chunks of flesh were missing as well from his legs and torso. A tiny length of his tail remained, along with the very base of his ears. Blood poured to the ground in a sloshing sound from all his open wounds and began pooling into crimson puddles. He was heavily panting as he glared at the centaur.

Unaffected by the glare, Neliel coolly said "You blocked it. That was rather foolish of you, Ulquiorra. Of all of our sibling disciples, you should have remembered that I was the one with the strongest counterattack abilities. Do tell me time hasn't dulled your memory."

Not answering right away, the bat demon all at once stopped panting. "Che."

Straightening his form up so that he was standing tall once more, he glanced down at the bloody remnant of his left arm. Suddenly, a mass of muscle and bone sprouted from it to reform the lost arm. Simultaneously his other arm, both wings, tail, ears, and the other wounds performed the same action until his body was whole once more.

Flexing his claws in a testing manner and stretching his wings, he shot an emotionless look at the demoness and replied "I have not forgotten. Your offensive abilities have always exceeded my own. Cero Doble, an ability that you created with the aid of our former master. It allows you to absorb an incoming Cero and then mix in your own to return a much more powerful attack that is at least twice as great as the one that was fired at you. Yes, that attack is most fearsome and is something that most would be finished off by."

"However, you seem to have forgotten about my greatest attribute. Unlike Grimmjow or you, mine is the ability to regenerate any part of my body. It is limited due that I cannot regenerate organs, however, just to be able to return all of my discarded limbs is quite powerful."

Coolly smiling as she took a step forward, the demoness remarked "I did not forget about your greatest ability either. That power to regenerate however takes a great deal of demonic energy to complete. Tell me, are you tired after having to regenerate a good portion of your body?"

Noting her opponent was seemingly ignoring her and still flexing his claws and wings, the buxom felt irked. Drawing her lance up so that she had it ready to throw, she began channeling her pink aura into the weapon.

"Do not underestimate me." she coldly stated as her grip tightened on her weapon. Eyes hardened and cold, she drew back her lance a little further and suddenly threw it in the direction of the bat demon as she called out "Lanzador Verde."

Spinning at a speed too fast for most to see, the lance shot straight towards it's target. Pink demonic energy poured off of the spinning weapon, it's intent clear.

Stretching his left wing out and turning it in to use as a shield, Ulquiorra braced it from behind the thick skin. The lance easily tore through the flesh of his wing and broke through his arm with little hindrance. With no further obstacles to block it, the lance dug into his chest, right where his heart would be located. Sparks flew from the contact with his skin as the tip of the lance tried to penetrate him.

After a minute of grinding against the bat demon, the lance came to rest and he slumped forward onto his knees, his right hand holding onto the lance as he gasped in pain. Walking silently to his slumped form cautiously, the teal haired buxom came to a stop just a foot away from him.

"I wish it hadn't come to this, Ulquiorra."

Reaching out and withdrawing her lance, she examined his wound. Her eyes immediately widened as a gasp of shock escaped her mouth. His chest injury wasn't very deep, only an inch in depth at best.

All at once the pale skinned general's left arm regenerated, along with the hole in his wing. He quickly stood up and returned his wing to behind himself and impassively stared into the stunned hazel eyes of his sibling disciple with his own yellow slit ones.

"Tell me Neliel, are you afraid of what I have become?"

Flashing away and putting a safe distance between herself and the bat demon, the centaur couldn't help but worriedly gawk at his chest wound that had already healed over. "_I hit him with __Lanzador Verde, yet he survived it. It isn't possible. He shouldn't have survived being hit by it. Just how far has he come since he left over two hundred years ago?_"

Testing out his new left hand for a few moments before looking up at the confused demoness, the pale skinned general coolly said "I believe you are afraid. Did you think that this form of mine was only for show? Since we last trained together, I have went beyond your power. Not only have my skills improved in that amount of time, but also my other abilities. I have learned how to make my Hierro much thicker, as well as decrease the amount of time it takes for me to heal my body. Speed, strength, power, offensive, and defensive abilities; all have improved. Yet you remain the same. You have spent far too much time ignoring your own training."

Snapping out of her stupor in thanks to the insult, Neliel threw a fierce glare at the sibling disciple. "Don't get too confident. I have continued my training."

"Yet you remain at the same level you were at years ago." the bat demon stated. "Allow me to educate you on the difference in our power."

Eyes widening when she saw her opponent vanish, the centaur quickly turned just in time to block an attack meant to take head off. Sparks poured to the ground from the intense grinding of the claws of the bat demon and the lance of the demoness.

Vanishing again, the bat demon suddenly reappeared directly in front of her. His tail lashed out and landed a blow to buxom demon's check, sending her skidding backwards several feet from the force of the impact. Coming to a stop, she started to charge her opponent, only to realize he was gone. She suddenly found her head captured within his palm from the side and was sent toppling over so that he smashed her head into the ground and dragged her along. Feeling him let go, she crashed through five trees before she was able to come to rest.

Slowly, she stood on four shaky legs. Blood ran down the sides and middle of her face. There were several gashes and minor wounds littering her left side that she had skidded on the ground on, along with blood trickling down from her mouth.

Before she could even decide what to do, she felt the bat demon's tail slam into her cheek and sent her skidding backwards. As she was, the demoness caught sight of him flying in a direct path towards her. Taking a chance, she slashed out at him. Her attack was all for not though as he evaded her attack like it was in slow motion. Ducking under it, he grabbed hold of her throat and lifted her up into the air. With all his strength, he slammed her body into the earth, creating a wide crater.

Wincing in pain, Neliel tried standing but found she couldn't. Her back right leg lay at an odd angle, revealing it was broken. Compensating, she stood on her three good legs as she panted heavily and bit her tongue to keep from screaming due to the pain she was in.

"Done Neliel?"

Fiercely glaring at the bat demon, she snarled out "Never!"

Flashing away and appearing directly to her left side, she gasped in pain when she felt a clawed hand stab into her chest. Blood spurted out from around the clawed hand stuck in it. More blood trickled down from her mouth as she felt her body weakening.

Withdrawing his hand and letting his fellow disciple fall to the ground, Ulquiorra watched as a pink aura wrapped around her body before she reverted back to her humanoid form. He spotted blood pooling near where she lay, all of it coming from the wound in her chest and staining the ground crimson.

Shaking as she tried to stand up, the demoness suddenly felt a hand wrap around her throat and hoist her into the air to the point her feet couldn't reach the ground. Peeling open one eye to look into her former comrade's eyes, she found no signs of emotion, only coldness that seemed to engulf her whole being. Reaching up and wrapping her hand around his wrist, she tried to free herself. Her body trembled greatly as she started feeling lightheaded from the lack of oxygen entering her.

"It is useless."

Holding up his left hand so that it was only a few inches from her face, the bat demon extended his index finger and summoned forth his black and emerald demonic energy on the tip of it within a sphere. Noting his captive's other eye opening and both going wide with fear filling them quickly, he built up more energy into his finger.

"This is the end, Neliel. Farewell."

Just as the pale skinned general was about to release his attack, he suddenly felt a set of hands grasp his left hand and jerk it high up into the air, causing his attack to fly harmlessly into the air.

Taking her chance to free herself, Neliel broke the loosened hold on her throat and managed to flash away.

Impassively glancing to his left at the one that had changed the direction of his attack, Ulquiorra saw a mess of blood stained white hair and muddy brown eyes. "Oh, you're still conscious?"

Panting heavily as he fiercely glared at the bat demon, Yukio leapt away to a safe distance of fourteen feet and reached up to grasp the top of his cloak around his neck. In a single motion, he ripped the cloak away from his body and threw it to the ground. His now revealed white kimono had a blotch of red where he had been stabbed and was stained crimson with trails of the blood streaking down to his white pants.

"You son of a bitch, you sure know how to bring the hurt. You were just toying with us throughout most of this fight, that much I've realized since our last engagement."

Eyeing the dog hanyou for several long moments with disdain reflecting in his eyes, the bat demon at last said "Half breed trash like you should know your place. It is futile for you to fight someone of my stature."

Cracking a pained smile as he shifted his blade in front of himself, the dog hanyou answered "I know you're strong. That fact was made painfully obvious when you shrugged off all three of our attacks like it was nothing and tossed us aside."

"But I'm not ready to call it your victory yet. You see, in all truth I've been holding back. I've done so in each battle I've ever had. My true power is something that I was warned never to use."

Holding his sword in front of his body to reveal it fully, the hanyou added "My sword here is not a run of the mill demon sword. It was created by a very famous demon I'm sure you're very familiar with: Mayuri Kurotsuchi."

Noting no change in the facial expressions of his opponent, Yukio pressed on. "My adopted father, Lord Byakuya Kuchiki had it fashioned for me. It was the first and only sword of it's kind due to the very nature of it."

Holding up two fingers, his index and middle on his left hand, he said "Mayuri took two techniques of sword making and used it to create Fenrir. The first technique was simple: he forged the blade from my adopted father's fangs, along with my own mother's fangs. Her name if you didn't know was Kaia Arisawa. She was a human that my adopted father took in and turned hanyou by taking her as his slave. Both fangs give my blade great power, and my true sire, Iya Taisho, his fangs were later added to it and gave it far more power."

"The second technique was merging the created sword into the process of creating a demon's zanpakutō. He sealed away a majority of my demonic power within the blade much like how many demons do when they have a zanpakutō created. Due to this, not once have I lost control of my demon blood and went on a rampage. In some ways, it was a safety device to prevent me from doing so due to my heritage."

Eyes hardening as he tightened his grip on the hilt of the sword, he added "I was told to never release my zanpakutō due to the danger it presented. I would no doubt lose control of myself my adopted father warned. My mother as well told me that doing so would have dire consequences. Both constantly cautioned against unleashing it's power and taught me to rely my own strength, not the power that my zanpakutō has."

Inhaling deeply as he slid his muddy brown eyes shut only to snap them back open with determination and resolve shining in them. "I will do whatever I must to defeat you. If the Eastern Lands are to fall and Amestris is to be liberated and saved from itself, you must be stopped. And to do that, I will do anything within my means to do so. If that so happens to be that I must lose myself to my demon blood, then I accept my lot. Now let's finish this."

Grasping the hilt of his sword with both hands and holding it out towards the bat demon in a pointing manner, he loudly declared "Howl at the moon, Fenrir!"

All at once, the blade of the hanyou's sword was coated in a sickly purple aura. Flaring up into the air, the sinister looking aura formed a purple wolf's head with many of it's fangs bared towards the bat demon. A terrifying throaty howl filled the air as the massive aura wolf head took to the sky before coming downwards and engulfing the hanyou completely. Upon doing so, the dog hanyou let out a loud pain filled scream just as he was hidden from view by the aura.

Several moments passed by before a deafening howl filled the air again while the aura slowly dissolved from around him. What stood in place of the white haired hanyou was now a white fur covered werewolf that had a long white mane that reached his butt in length, but was tied back in a low ponytail with a leather cord holding it together. A white furry tail whipped back a few times reflexively. His paws had sharp black claws while his hands were somewhat still existing within them. Wrapped around his hips was a leather cord belt with a single hunting knife in a sheath on his left hip. The werewolf's only clothing on his body was a set of ripped up white pants that reached down to his knees. His eyes were the most vivid piece of the transformation, for no longer were they the muddy brown eyes, but now a bright golden color that seemed to reveal that there was no longer a soul behind them. Narrowing his eyes, the werewolf threw his head back and released a massive howl that struck fear in the three remaining conscious fighters.

Sizing up the transformed hanyou for several moments before stretching his wings out, Ulquiorra coolly said "So that is your release. Impressive transformation but nothing to fear. It does not even compare to my power. Now perish"

Holding his finger up and charging black and emerald energy up on the tip of it, the bat demon's eyes widened when he noticed what the werewolf was preparing to do.

Jaws opening and eyes revealing craze within them, the transformed hanyou had purple demonic aura flaring from within his jaws and forming into a similar looking charge up of energy like his foe.

As one, the two fired their attacks at one another. The beam of black and emerald energy slammed into purple energy beam and created a massive explosion and wave of destruction from the confrontation. A massive explosion sent a burst of flames and smoke that soaring into the sky. The explosion cleared away a five foot deep and thirty foot wide crater.

Reaching a safe distance from the explosion with the teal haired buxom and Quincy, the demon lord set the pair down onto the ground. Panting lightly, he cast his eyes on the explosion in time to see the werewolf and bat demon again firing similar attacks at each other. Like before, the attacks led to another stalemate, but the very land itself was changing from the force of the explosions.

"Damn, what power..." Kouga commented in awe.

Nodding her head as she managed to get to her feet, Neliel remarked "It's insane to think that those two seem to be on even ground. Just what kind of power did that boy have within him."

Reappearing as the explosion cleared once more, the two fighters suddenly charged each other with their claws extended at one another. Their hands locked together with sparks of demonic energy flaring from their claws. Each fought for dominance over the other, with neither willing to budge.

Suddenly lashing out with his tail, the bat demon's eyes narrowed when the transformed hanyou ducked his head in time to evade the attack. The werewolf instantly jerked hard on the right arm of the bat demon with his left and ripped it off from the upper part. Spinning around, he landed a mighty kick into the chest of the bat demon and sent him skidding backwards several yards.

Throwing the bloody stump in his hand to the ground and smashing it with his clawed foot, the werewolf let out a horrendous howl and bared it's fangs towards the now panting bat demon.

Panting hard as he glanced down at his missing arm, Ulquiorra spotted blood leaking down from the bloody stump. Visibly annoyed, he grunted out "Tch."

Instantaneously his arm regenerated. Flexing it a few times to test it out, he remained emotionless as he stared into the wild eyes of the half demon. "To think a half breed would push me this far."

"I don't know how you managed to achieve that much power, but no half breed piece of trash could ever achieve a true Resurrección. If you think you have won after plucking one arm off, you are truly foolish."

Bringing his arms into the front of his chest as he lowered his head, he smacked the tips of his clawed fingers together to form an O like sign. Emerald energy suddenly filled in the gap between his two palms. In a single motion, he spread his arms out. Doing so caused the emerald energy to flow out as well and form what looked like an arrow almost with emerald flames licking both the head and tail of it.

Raising his head with cold yellow slit eyes boring into his opponents, he declared "Lanza del Relámpago."

Grasping hold of the energy lance with his right hand, he twirled it around and held it up to his right side. "Stay away from me. Stay where you are. I would prefer not to set this off near me."

Flashing away to a distance of fifty yards and thirty in the air, he threw the lance into the air. It's decline had a wide arc to it and slowly fell downwards towards the white werewolf. Sinking into the ground two foot away from the hanyou, the lance suddenly glowed brilliantly and exploded. The sheer force of the explosion cleared the landscape for at least thirty yards and dug a six foot trench into the ground. Flaring high to the sky was a swirling, towering emerald flamed explosion that bathed the area in emerald colored light. Powerful winds blew about and sent trees toppling over to the ground like they were children's toys. Rocks and boulders were crushed from the power and their debris scattered about.

000

000

Staring at the massive blast from their new vantage point, Kouga and Neliel found themselves speechless. The scar on the land shocked both of them into a state of silence.

At this time, Uryū started to awaken to find his hair tussling in the fierce breeze. Sitting up and immediately regretting the action, he spotted blood pooled underneath himself and realized it was all his.

"You're awake."

Finding it was the teal haired buxom that had spoke to him, he mutely nodded his head and attempted to stand, finding quickly he could not. Trying to catch himself with his hands, he discovered he only had one and the other was now completely missing. His eyes instantly widened a fraction when he saw the bloody stump of his left arm.

Putting a calming hand on his chest, Neliel calmly said "Try not to move. You've lost a lot of blood from the battle. Not to mention your left arm was removed during Ulquiorra's attack on your person."

Images of the brutal attack suddenly played back through the Quincy's mind, making him shutter from the memory of the assault he had survived. Trying to force himself up again, he felt the same hand that had stopped him before holding him down.

"Don't. You're in no condition to be up."

"I need to know what's happening. Is Yukio alright?"

"He was doing fine up until a few minutes ago." Kouga spoke up from in front of the pair as he continued to watch the explosion that still consumed the area.

Staring at the back of the wolf demon for a second, the Quincy asked "What happened?"

Flashing his aqua eyes back at the human, the demon lord smoothly said "He released his zanpakutō and took over the fight with Ulquiorra. Since then, he's been on even footing it seems with the general, though he just got swallowed up in a massive attack. I don't know if he's alright or not yet."

"Released his zanpakutō!" the human repeated with worry reflecting in his hurried words. Once more struggling to stand, he growled out "Let me up! I have to hurry to him!"

Frowning at the words of the Quincy, Neliel forcefully pushed him down, saying "It's alright to let him continue this fight. In your condition, you can't hope to win the ..."

"I'm not worried about helping Yukio win, I'm worried about stopping him!" Uryū declared hurriedly. "He warned me about this and had me prepared for this eventuality."

"Warned you about it?" Kouga asked.

Nodding his head, Uryū replied "Back about two months ago, we ventured in closer to Amestris so he could retrieve something very important should this ever happen."

000

000

"For the record Yukio, this is a bad idea." Uryū said in a hushed tone as he followed behind his partner.

Crouched down so not to be seen easily, Yukio grit out quietly "Duly noted. Now shut up and hurry up before we're caught."

Letting out a low sigh, the Quincy followed behind the dog hanyou as they entered into a set of training fields on the outskirts of the village they had been monitoring. Only one guard stood in the perimeter, but he seemed to be dozing off and paying no heed to the pair that were approaching his position.

Throwing a nod towards the human, the hanyou flashed away to a set of rocks. As he reappeared, the Quincy appeared next to him. Reaching out and touching the rock face with his claws, he searched silently in the dark. Finding what he was searching for, he pushed a single rock in that caused a faint humming sound to fill the air. A moment later, a faint light blue barrier appeared in the rock face.

Motioning his partner through, the hanyou waited until the human was gone. Entering himself, he turned around instantly and touched the rock wall that was on the inside of the light blue barrier. The outside world vanished, leaving the pair to wander in pitch darkness.

"Uryū, can you light the way?"

"Is it safe now?"

"Yeah, this cavern is sound proof, as well it keeps all energies from leaving it." Yukio answered.

Nodding his head, the Quincy drew out one of his metal tube like weapons and pushed a bit of power into it. A light blue blade of energy sprouted out and lit the dark cavern up in an eerie glow.

"Which way?"

Moving up in front of the Quincy, the hanyou pointed ahead, saying "This way. Not too much further. Once we're in the main area, there will be torches we can light."

"Alright, lead on."

Taking the lead, the hanyou carefully navigated through the cavern. The ceiling was seven foot tall and three foot wide. It was somewhat daunting to the human, though he suppressed his uneasiness and continued to follow his comrade.

Reaching the main room he had spoke of earlier, Yukio found the torches on the wall and ignited one with a set of flints. With the torch lit, he did the same for all the others. At long last, his task was complete and the room was completely illuminated.

"So what is this place?" Uryū questioned with his right arm folded over his chest while the other remained in it's sling.

Smilingly lightly, the hanyou replied "This was a special training area that my adopted father crafted for not only himself, but my mother and me as well. In here, I spent many years training to get stronger so that I could assume the lead of the village while my adopted father was gone. This place is special since no energy can be sensed on the outside from in here, as well, any explosions from training is suppressed and sent into the ground instead."

"So why are we here?"

"We're here because I need to pick up something I left a long time ago." Yukio stated as he moved towards the back wall of the room. Placing his hands on it, he searched out for something until he at last found a specific rock and pushed it into the wall. As if on cue, the wall shuddered slightly and opened up to reveal a cut out shelf.

Spotting a single item sitting on the shelf, the hanyou reached for it and pulled it out. Sweeping some of the dust off of it, he turned around to reveal it was a wooden box to the Quincy. The box was small in size, only two inches in height and six in length. A single leather cord that wrapped around all four sides bound the box's lid shut with a single snap at the top to open it.

Walking over to the Quincy, the hanyou offered it to him, saying "I want you to hold onto this for me."

Confused, the human started to ask a question only to be cut off by his partner. "I have something I must tell you first before you ask questions. Once I'm done, I want you to make me a promise that if something should ever happen to where I need you to use this on me, you will."

000

000

"What was in the box?" Kouga questioned with concern reflecting in his voice.

Reaching into his torn and shredded cloak, the Quincy quickly produced said box and smoothly said "It is an item that can stop Yukio in that state. It's a special talisman designed to release all his demonic energy at once."

A touch shocked at the statement, Neliel murmured "But that means he'll revert to human form."

"That's correct, milady. Yukio knew the danger but still profusely demanded that I do use this on him should he release his zanpakutō. From what he was told, the effects of his powers being drained away is only temporary, with him regaining his powers after a night of rest."

"His powers are so different from anything I've ever seen." the teal haired buxom commented as she cupped her chin. "From what I understood, only a demon could have a zanpakutō that contained their Resurrección. Anyone with mixed blood supposedly could not compress their powers into such a form."

Nodding his head as he reached up and pushed his glasses back up on his nose, the Quincy coolly said "Yukio has spoken frequently about how his zanpakutō is one of a kind. He often mentioned that the spirit of it called out to him and continuously tempted him to release it so it could take over his body."

Looking over in shock, the demoness asked "Wait, you said it has a spirit? That's not possible."

"Why not?" Kouga questioned as he slid his eyes in the pair's direction.

Staring down at her lap, Neliel calmly replied "Zanpakutō that have both a Shikai and Bankai do contain a spirit within them, but zanpakutō like I have do not have such a spirit in them. They contain a demon's power and that allows us to achieve a form similar to our true demon form. That is why our release is called Resurrección."

Seemingly thoughtful, she added "This could be something completely new. My belief is that the spirit he heard was not a zanpakutō spirit itself, but a hollow."

"Hollow?" Uryū questioned with confusion reflecting in his face.

Becoming thoughtful as she placed her hand under her chin, the demoness nodded her head and calmly said "A hollow is much like a hanyou's demon side. You see, they are created due to an incompatibility between a zanpakutō and it's master. When a demon hands down their zanpakutō to another demon, there is no issue. Similar if a hanyou hands down a zanpakutō to another hanyou. So long as the blade was crafted for someone specific and the next to have it is similar in lineage, there is no issue."

"However, there is an issue when lineage isn't the same. If a demon gives a hanyou their zanpakutō, a secondary spirit is born within the zanpakutō. This second spirit is known as a hollow. It is born of a hanyou's demon blood and the zanpakutō's spirit. A zanpakutō and it's master has a relationship, but once a hollow comes about, the three enter into a similar relationship, however it is somewhat different. Hollows try to become the dominant force, in other words the master of the zanpakutō and the hanyou."

Glancing towards the battle, she added "It is quite possible that in Yukio's case, the hollow completely skipped being born into the zanpakutō's spirit, but became the zanpakutō itself. In that case, there is no buffer against the hollow, but literally Yukio's hollow is controlling him and he cannot stop it."

"In any case, we'd better hope he survived that last attack from Ulquiorra. If not, we're back to facing Ulquiorra with who knows what damage done to Yukio." Kouga commented.

000

000

Staring at the settling dust and smoke, the bat demon slowly turned away, saying "Half breed trash."

Without warning, a massive light blue demonic aura shot out of the air that dispersed the remaining dust and smoke. Standing in the same spot he had been in before was the werewolf with what looked like minimal damage to his body. He had a portion of his white fur burned off of his left arm and leg, but the remainder of his body was hardly singed.

"Impossible." Ulquiorra whispered in complete shock. "You took on the full force of my Lanza del Relámpago, yet you live. That's just impossible."

Letting out a low growl, the werewolf started slowly striding towards the bat demon. Taking hold of the knife in his belt with his left hand, he drew it out of it's sheath ever so slowly before bringing it before himself. Holding it away from his body horizontally, he slowly increased his pace as his lip raised up and a low snarl started forming.

Holding out his left arm, the bat demon summoned up another emerald energy lance. Taking hold it instantly he readied it before his body.

Charging forward in a flash the pair were engaged in battle once more. The knife of the werewolf ground against the energy lance of the bat demon. Emerald sparks spewed to the ground from two weapons grinding against one another, with what looked like the knife of the werewolf starting to cut through the energy slowly.

Pushing off, the pale skinned demon rushed forward and clashed repeated with his foe. Neither were willing to give an inch. Backing away, he raised his right hand with emerald and black energy swirling on the tip of it in a sphere.

"Cero Oscuras!"

Countering the black and emerald energy beam of his opponent, the werewolf opened his jaws to reveal light blue energy building up within his maw. He quickly released his attack and the two high density beams smashed into one another like they had previously done in other engagements. Like before, the attacks ground away at one another until the two exploded and shot a massive tower of flames into the sky.

Agitated, Ulquiorra started to flash away but was stopped when he realized his opponent was directly behind him. Turning to face him, he just managed to block a swipe of the knife of his rival that would have buried it deep within his back.

Suddenly whipping around with a high round house kick, the werewolf pushed the bat demon backwards and pressed his attack. Slash after slash, he attempted to break through the bat demon's defenses, only to be kept in check by the emerald lance. Having had enough, he suddenly reached out with his right hand and brought the lance to a stop. Squeezing tightly, the werewolf's brutal strength started to wear on the lance, making the bat demon's eyes widen in shock at the state of his weapon.

With one last mighty squeeze, the transformed hanyou broke the lance in two. Having no more obstructions to deal with, he swiped forward and buried his knife deep into the chest of the bat demon where his heart would lie. Reaching out with his right hand, he grabbed pale skinned general by the neck and hoisted him up off his feet. Increasing his grip, the wolf stared deep into the now frightened and surprised eyes of his foe. Returning the stare with cold amber eyes, the werewolf opened his jaws to reveal light blue demonic energy within his maw. Turning his head downwards to point directly at the bat demon's chest, he unleashed the attack at point blank range.

The attack easily tore Ulquiorra's body to ribbons. A massive hole cut through most of his body and left only a portion of the left side behind. His right shoulder and wing down was gone, along with his ribs down to his lower hip. Blood poured out from his broken body and leaked down from his mouth. He was gasping for air but his body was limp to the point he couldn't free himself.

Amber eyes bore into the yellow eyes of his adversary for moments before the werewolf tossed the bat demon aside. Releasing a mighty howl as he threw his head up, the transformed hanyou soon stopped and started stalking towards his fallen prey.

Suddenly flashing in front of the dying bat demon was the Lord of the North. In a firm voice, he declared "That's enough, Yukio. You've defeated him."

Earning himself a low growl from the werewolf, Kouga unintentionally took a step back but quickly decided to not retreat and held his ground. Hardening his expression, he ground out "I will stop you if I have to. Stand down, Yukio."

Letting out what sounded like a chuckle, the werewolf advanced on the wolf demon. Clenching his right hand into a tight fist, he lifted his lip and let out a dangerous snarl.

Appearing directly behind the werewolf instantly was the Quincy with a red glove that had the finger holes cut out. On the top of the glove was a pattern that looked like a fireball with blue and black flames and a skull within.

Slapping the back of the werewolf before he could react, Uryū fell back as a light blue energy ribbon trailed back in his hand. Grasping the ribbon tightly, he clenched his hand tightly.

Eyes widening, the werewolf let out a pained howl. His light blue demonic aura flared all around his body like a towering inferno. All at once, a blinding burst of light shot out from him and blinded all around him. The light slowly receded to a level that all could see once again.

What everyone found was a young man with black hair that fell down to his butt in length and was wearing his usual white top and pants. A large sword was hanging in his right hand but unceremoniously dropped the ground with a loud clang. The human stood there for only a few seconds longer before too falling forward onto the ground.

"Yukio!" Uryū cried out as he rushed to his friend's side. Turning him over, the Quincy found the young human had simply passed out. Throwing a look to the demon lord, he said "He's just unconscious."

"Good." Kouga commented.

By the side of the bat demon, Neliel stared down at her fallen former comrade. Tears were starting to well up in her eyes as she saw him struggling to keep breathing.

"Ulquiorra..."

Remaining silent for a few moments as he tried to find his voice, Ulquiorra at last said "It seems my time is up."

Looking up at his sibling disciple as his eyes faded from their yellow slit form to their original emerald green, he quietly asked "Are you sad, Neliel?"

"I never wanted you to die." the demoness admitted as tears trailed down her cheeks. "You was the one person I never wanted to have to fight, much less lose. I had always hoped you would find something in life to give it meaning."

Revealing a look of shock in his eyes, the bat demon slid his emerald eyes shut for a moment before reopening them and whispered "I never wished you any ill harm either, but the world is not like that. Perhaps in our next life, we shall meet again and be able to live by the code our master set forth."

Taking hold of his hand within her own, the demoness replied in a hushed whisper "Perhaps."

"Farewell, Neliel." Ulquiorra managed to murmur as his emerald eyes slid shut for one last time and his breathing slowed greatly. At last, his chest no longer rose, revealing he had passed on.

Feeling her final restraints on her emotions releasing, Neliel sobbed out loudly and laid her head down onto the chest of her dead sibling disciple. Her heart breaking sound was the only thing heard throughout the area as the Quincy and demon lord gave her sympathetic looks.


	19. Chapter 19: Warrior's Honor

**Hello once more. First off, sorry for the lateness of this chapter. I originally intended on releasing it Thursday, but real life and the lack of internet overrode that line of thinking. My apologies.**

**So, my mate and I have had some interesting times. Last weekend, we painted our newly purchased home. Well, 2 rooms of our new home. It was interesting doing so to say the least. I finished up on it Monday since I was off that day. Which brings me to the reason the chapter didn't get out on time. I was on vacation from Tuesday to Saturday down at Disney World. We flew out Tuesday afternoon, which was interesting since my mate has never flown. Needless to say, she isn't a fan. We got down here and I discovered that there was internet, only it costs 10 bucks a day for 24 hours of services with 5 times more speed than 56k dial up. That's not even more than I have at home, so I opted out on buying it. But since then, we've had a good time in the parks. We went to Epcot the first night and back the next morning for all day. The second day we went to Disney Hollywood Studios and got through it by 1 or 2, then went to Magic Kingdom that night. On the third day, we finished Magic Kingdom and rounded out the day at Epcot before limping back to our resort, lol. Let's just say we're both worn out. Day one, I got two blisters on my left foot and it's been killer since. They're somewhat better now, but still a bit painful also. We just got back this evening, but man I'm beat.**

**But the fun doesn't stop there. This coming week, we are preparing to move into our new home since the carpets will be cleaned Monday morning. We hope to be in Saturday and be officially moved out of our old rented house. It's going to be fascinating to see how that goes. Hopefully my mate and I don't kill each other over it, but no guarantees, lol.**

**Writing wise, I am slowly getting stuff done. With no internet, it seems my attention shifted back to writing, yet I needed resources online for certain things, thus irritating me and making me progress very slowly. By the way, I did get several ideas while down at Disney and I hope to integrate them into the story. Plus I was inspired to write a possible one-shot. We'll see how it all goes.**

**Thanks to Katana for your reviews I really enjoy hearing from you.**

**Well, without further ado, I'm done and it's time for the chapter. I hope all of you have a great week and I look forward to hearing what you think of the chapter. Enjoy!**

**Meanings for certain words:**

_**Katon, Goukakyuu = Fire Element, Grand Fireball**_

_**Katon, Housenka = Fire Element, Phoenix Fire**_

_**Katon, Gōryūka = Fire Element, Great Dragon Fire**_

_**Katon, Housenka = Fire Element, Ash Pile Burning **_

_**Katon, Karyū Endan = Fire Element, Fire Dragon Flame Bullet**_

_**Dao Jin = The way of Virtue**_

**Chapter 19**

Hearing her partner come to a skidding stop in the middle of the long hallway they were currently traveling down, Yoshe turned around to find the neko hanyou with her eyes squeezed shut.

"What's wrong Lilly?"

Keeping her eyes shut, Lilly answered "I felt Yukio's demonic aura suddenly disappear from the battlefield. It had flared up earlier to a level I've never sensed from him before, but now it's gone completely, like he's ..."

Shaking her head, the neko firmly stated "No, he's not dead. He can't be."

"Calm yourself." Yoshe commanded as she approached her sister in law. Placing a calming hand onto the neko's shoulder, she said "Feel for him."

Inhaling a deep breath as she reached out with her senses once more, the neko quickly found the demonic auras of two familiar figures where she had previously sensed the battle with her step son. Searching the area, she at last found his nearly depleted aura that revealed to her he was now more human than hanyou.

"He's alive." Lilly said in a relieved tone.

Nodding her head, the ice demoness remarked "It seems Kouga and a demoness are with him, as well as that Quincy."

"I've never sensed that demoness before but I have to guess she was there to help seeing how she was fighting the general and saved Kouga." the neko commented.

Taking a step back, the ice demoness looked back down the hallway and said "Let's continue on. We shouldn't be too much further from Lord Sasuke."

Flashing a weak smile, the neko nodded and replied "Right."

000

000

"Pitiful."

Held in mid-air by a sword that was piercing through his right gut, Ichigo grasped the blade with his left hand and tried to free himself. Blood was already soaking his trench coat top and leaking down to the ground.

"Why you..." he began before unceremoniously tossed aside and freed from the long blade that had pierced him. Smashing into the wall, he coughed up a small bit of blood upon impact and slid down slowly. Doing so, he stained the wall red with his life force leaking out.

To his feet and panting hard as he clutched his stomach wound, the quarter demon turned a fierce glare towards the proudly standing hybrid demon. He had no marks on his body from their fight and was completely calm.

"To think I had to use my Resurrección to defeat trash like you is ludicrous. Tell me this is not the extent of your powers."

Visibly agitated, the hybrid demon grunted out "You are not worth my time. It is time I proceeded onwards to deal with that half breed."

"Don't count me out yet." Ichigo stated as he drew his zanpakutō up in front of himself diagonally.

Regarding the quarter demon with contempt in his eyes, Sephiroth replied "You are nothing but trash. Your Bankai may have forced me to unleash my own zanpakutō, but it is at it's limit. To think you have a chance in defeating me is insanity."

Still panting heavily, the quarter demon straightened his body as his breathing started to even out at last. Cracking a smirk, he smugly replied "You're right, as I am, I'm no match for you. I didn't think I could beat you with my Bankai alone, but I had to try it."

"But if you think I'm at my limit, you're way off base." Ichigo stated with a glint of determination flashing in his brown eyes. Reaching his left hand up to in front of his face and curling it up like a clawing motion, he said "I don't like using this power unless I absolutely have to. If I want to win against someone of your caliber, I don't have a whole lot of choice in the matter. Now get ready to see what I can really do and witness the power of my Hollowfication."

Upon the quarter demon swiping his hand downwards, black demonic aura mixed with a twinge of red engulfed his body completely. The aura soon dispersed a bit to reveal he was still standing in the same place and was now wearing a white bone mask that had maroon tattoos streaking over the eye holes. His eyes had changed from their usual brown color to a powerful golden color with black sclera. Taking in a ragged breath, he let out a fierce roar of what sounded like his voice mixed with another similar one. The black and red aura continued to dance around his body and blade while creating a powerful breeze that blew his orange hair wildly and the coattails of his trench coat.

Releasing even more black and red demonic aura that wrapped around his sword, Ichigo surged forward with speed that was on par with the hybrid demon. Slashing out at his opponent, he wasn't surprised when his blade was countered. Sparks spewed from the intensity of the two swords clashing. Pouring out more power, the quarter demon pushed the hybrid demon backwards with all his might.

Managing to dig his feet into the ground, the hybrid demon brought the push to a grinding stop. His blade was creaking from the strain of the force being applied by his opponent, yet he paid no heed to it.

"Oh, so this is your true power? Perhaps you are stronger than I thought." Sephorith mocked.

Under the mask, the quarter demon smirked and replied in a gurgled voice "Don't underestimate me. I'm not releasing nearly enough power for you to make such conclusions."

The blazing black and red demonic energy around the quarter demon's blade suddenly increased again, giving him enough of a power boost to fling his opponent away from himself and send the hybrid demon skidding backwards several yards. Going after the off balance demon, Ichigo golden eyes suddenly widened when his rival vanished.

"Che, like that will fool me." he declared as he quickly spun around to block an attack from the elongated blade of his foe. Finding a somewhat surprised look on the hybrid demon's face, he asked "Getting worried?"

"Hardly." Sephiroth remarked in a stale tone.

Flaring around his body and sending his hair spraying about along with his wing feather ruffling was the silver aura of the hybrid demon. Grasping his elongated sword with both hands, he charged forward with his boots leaving deafening footsteps. Slashing out at the quarter demon with intent to slash his foe in half, the hybrid demon let out a light grunt as instead his sword merely grinded against his opponent's.

Unable to push his opponent back, the quarter demon's golden eyes stared into the cold amber eyes of his foe. Sweat trickled slightly down the side of his face before he let out a loud yell and pushed the hybrid demon's sword back. Slashing out, he made no contact as the silver haired demon flashed away.

Not to be left behind, the orange haired quarter demon gave chase and met his awaiting foe. Wildly slashing one handed, his black blade streaked through the air with the limited light filtering into the room shining off of it. Sparks rained to the floor from the grinding steel blades crossing, however no attacks made it through the defenses of his opponent.

"_He's fast. I thought Hollowfying would give me the edge in speed but it's more like we're even instead._ " Ichigo growled within his mind as he ground his blade against the elongated blade of the hybrid demon.

Pushed out of his thoughts when he was shoved backwards by his opponent, the quarter demon went on the assault. Wild slash after slash, his blade was parried or dodged. At last, the two blades crossed, each swordsman pushing on the other and testing the strength of their opponent.

"Is this it?"

Visibly angered by the hybrid demon's question, Ichigo let out a monstrous roar that echoed loudly thanks to his mask. Falling back and putting a short amount of distance between himself and his foe, he drew back his black katana and raised it up over his head as black and red demonic aura swirled around it.

"Getsuga Tenshō!"

Keeping his eyes focused on the crescent moon blade of swirling demonic energy that was coming towards him, Sephiroth raised his elongated katana to block it. The sheer force of the attack sent him skidding backwards and made him have to brace the long blade with his left hand. Digging his feet in, the demon managed to stop his sliding but found he had great pressure pushing up against his long sword. Gritting his teeth as he felt the tremendous force of the demonic energy starting to dig into his sword and threaten to break it, he vanished and reappeared several feet high in the air as the attack harmlessly slammed into the wall of the keep.

Taking notice of the hybrid demon's slightly winded state, the quarter demon pushed his own tiredness aside and charged into the air with blade wrapped in demonic aura. He came in hot and swinging wildly. Sparks flared out from the intense conflict between the two with no victor clearly determined.

Unable to keep up his assault any longer, the quarter demon retreated a short distance to try and gather himself up. His breathing was heavy and body screamed for a much needed break, but he refused to stand idly.

"_I need to finish him and quickly. Since I managed to get full control of my hollow I've only been able to maintain my mask for thirty minutes. That's a far cry from the over an hour time limit I once had._"

Golden eyes hardening as he kept his focus on the silver haired demon, Ichigo grunted out "_Can't stop to take a break. Too many people depending on me to beat him. If I fail here, not only will I leave Iya open to counterattack but I'll lose her too. There is no way in hell I can let either one down._"

Gripping his black katana tightly as he shifted his left foot forward a few inches, the quarter demon shot straight towards the hybrid demon. "_I can't afford to lose!_"

Blade smashing up against his opponent's, the masked quarter demon pushed with all his might and sent the demon skidding backwards. Following up with a charge, his eyes suddenly widened when he realized his opponent had vanished.

"Too slow." Sephiroth commented in a stale tone from behind Ichigo.

Flashing away as an elongated blade struck where he had been a moment before, the quarter bobcat reappeared and let out a battle cry. The silver steeled sword and black one slammed into one another, resulting in a massive outpouring of sparks and ringing of steel. Ground against each other, the blades did not give even as the steel started popping from the tremendous force being placed on them.

Backing away suddenly, the quarter demon rushed the dog and sky demon. His sword swung violently at several angles to try and force an opening.

Arm shaking as he tried to hold back his orange haired foe, the hybrid demon pushed away his opponent and slashed out in long, languished attacks that were precise and deadly accurate. Each attack was parried but had forced the quarter demon to take up a defensive stance once he was pushed back.

Panting and gasping for air, Ichigo glared through the eyeholes of his mask at the winded Sephiroth. Bringing his blade in front of himself, he charged forward, ready to continue the battle once more.

000

000

"I need to help them... Arg, let me go woman!"

Doing her best not to hurt the frantic wolf demon that was trying to get up from his makeshift bed, Orihime calmly replied "No, you can't go yet. I just finished healing that nasty head wound. Stay here until I'm sure you're fine."

"I am fine! Now let go!" the wolf demon ground out. His dull silver hair hung loosely down below his shoulder blades and shook as he tried to free himself from the grip of the demoness that held him to the bed.

In a firm, demanding tone, the bobcat demoness said "If you don't stop and lay down, I'll make you."

Not buying her threat for a moment as he at last wrenched himself free of her grasp, the wolf demon stood up and was just a foot away when he heard a cold voice speak up.

"Bakudō 1: Sai!"

Without warning, the wolf demon's arms were wrenched behind his back by an invisible force. Howling out in pain from the suddenness of what happened, he had no chance at keeping himself from being thrown back into the bed he had just gotten up out of.

"I won't allow my patients to go out and kill themselves when they're still hurt. You had a pretty serious head wound and shouldn't be up for a while yet. If I have to go so far as to knock you out to keep you alive I will." Orihime darkly stated with a smoldering glare in her gray eyes.

Taking in a calming breath, her eyes returned to normal as she softly added "I will not allow my comrades to die because of their own pride. So please, be patient."

Grumbling to himself, the wolf demon complied and laid back. Upon seeing him do so, the demoness released her spell and allowed him to use his arms once more. Walking away and taking a glance out at the battlefield, she couldn't help but feel a slight feeling of trepidation coursing through her body.

"_There were so many wounded earlier, but now it's slowed. Does that mean that the battle is almost won? I'm certain Iya hasn't begun his battle, but Ichigo has most definitely started his fight with someone strong. I can sense he is using his mask._"

Wiping her brow to remove a bit of sweat that had formed there earlier, she slid her gray eyes shut for a moment and entered into her inner world. It took the form of a lake with a forest surrounding it. The trees were swaying gently in the breeze and submerged in the water was the form of a large stingray.

Broken out of her thoughts by someone tugging on her sleeve, the mage looked to her right to find a bright smiling May. "Day dreaming?"

"Sorry about that, I was just trying to clear my mind for a moment." Orihime apologized.

Nodding her head and glancing towards the battle herself, the neko child became solemn and asked "Do you think daddy's friend will win?"

Figuring out she referred to the dog hanyou whom she had become good friends with, the demoness replied "I think he'll be fine. Iya is strong."

"Ichigo is too, I can tell." the child commented as she flashed a smile at the bobcat. "You shouldn't worry too much about him, he'll return."

Returning the smile with one of her own as she continued to look out at the battlefield, Orihime remarked "I know I shouldn't, but he is my mate. Mates always wonder about one another."

"It'll age you before your time if you do." the neko joked.

Lightly chuckling, the demoness suddenly froze when she felt a powerful demonic aura approaching the pair. Not recognizing it, she was on guard instantly. Searching for the direction of the approaching aura, the mage determined after a few seconds that it was coming from the left of the makeshift infirmary.

Stepping into view was a pale skinned demon that had long straight black hair that fell to just below his mid-back. He had one eye visible that was violet color and seemed rather hardened. The left eye was covered by a white eye patch that wrapped around his head. He wore a sinister smirk on his face that revealed all of his pearly white teeth. His clothing consisted of a pair of white pants that was covered over by a white top that was open in the chest area to form what looked like a spade like shape. Reaching up from his top was a massive white with black outlining collar that rose at least two feet above his head and formed a spoon like shape. On his feet was a set of black pointy boots that had white swirls within them. On each of his wrists was a set of three dull gray bracelets. Tied on his right hip to his pants was a long black chain with massive links. The chain itself was fifteen foot in length and connected to a massive double crescent moon bladed weapon. The first crescent moon faced outwards from the shaft of the weapon and had a gleaming silver and black finished look. Behind it sat another crescent moon shaped blade that faced back towards the hilt of the weapon. What held the blades together was a seven foot long black shaft with the chain attached to the end of it. The massive weapon itself sat upon his back diagonally with the tip of the blade grazing against the ground. All in all, the weapon itself was at least ten feet in length.

"Well, well, what have we here? This must be where all the losers who couldn't hack it in battle came to be healed." the demon stated as he approached. "Or should I say came to die."

Launching forwards with speed surprising for his size, the unknown demon drew his weapon and had it ready to slash one of the injured men nearest him. Before he could, an orange triangular barrier formed in front of his massive sword and brought his attack to a halt.

Moving quickly over to the demon that was being attacked with her arms spread out defensively, Orihime determinedly declared "I will not allow you to fight them. Back down and leave."

Bursting out loud laughing as he sneered at the mage, the white robed demon smugly quipped "And who will stop me? Some wench that is out of her league?"

"I don't want to fight you, so leave. There is no reason to fight these men. For crying out loud, they can't even defend themselves!" Orihime exclaimed as resolve flashed in her eyes.

Chuckling at the stance of the mage, the demon smugly replied "You're not even worth my time, whore. I can smell the stench of human on you. Tell me, do you whore yourself out to such weaklings? If so, perhaps I'd be doing everyone a favor by killing you first."

Erupting from the ground without warning was a massive rock fist that landed square into the gut of the mocking demon. He was sent flying backwards and crashed into a few of the trees that had surrounded the area where the injured were brought.

Surprised at the sudden attack, the bobcat mage spotted an angry looking May with fire flashing in her eyes on her knees and hands having light blue energy sparks flaring off of them. Her hands were pressed to a small circle drawn into the ground that had a star superscripted into it. Each of the points of the star had a gray steel kunai dug into it, with each having a red ribbon tied onto them.

"You shouldn't speak badly about women!" she yelled out.

Taken back by the outburst of her comrade, Orihime started to speak but was cut off when she realized the demon that had just been floored was getting back up without so much as a scratch on him.

In shock, the neko asked "But how? That attack should have at least broke some bones or caused some kind of internal injuries."

Dusting himself off as he made his way towards the pair of females, the demon smirked and smugly replied "It's because of my Hierro. It's the thickest ever known in the world. Such weakling attacks won't bring me down."

"Why are you here?" Orihime firmly asked as her hand went to the hilt of her sword.

Popping his neck as he came to a stop, the black haired demon smirked again and smoothly said "How forgetful of me to not introduce myself. My name is Nnoitra Gilga and I am here as a soldier of the Southern Lands. As for why here specifically, it's to get rid of the trash."

Unaffected by the response she got, the mage calmly remarked "The mark of a true warrior is to know compassion. These men cannot fight anymore. Attacking those that can't is very dishonorable."

"Oh please, honor has nothing to do with this." Nnoitra stated matter-a-factly. "I'm just here to kill those that are weak and got hurt. Weaklings like that don't deserve to walk off of the battlefield. No, they should be felled on the field and left to rot."

Pointing his long weapon directly at the neko child, he smartly said "A child like you should know better than interfere with someone's business. It appears your parents taught you nothing, so for that I'll do them a favor and get rid of you. Die!"

Dashing forward with his blade poised to strike, the sneering demon raised his blade up high over his head and swung downwards. Before the blade could touch the child, a familiar orange triangular barrier appeared once more and blocked the attack. Sparks flared from the impact but the barrier didn't give.

"You're going to interfere again, wench?"

Unwavering as she stepped forward with purpose in her steps, Orihime defiantly shot back "I will not allow you to harm those around me. I advise leaving before I must make you do so."

"Some bobcat whore isn't going to give me orders and live. You'd best be ready to die right here, for you'll get no mercy from me." Nnoitra declared.

Finding the demoness standing her ground, he smirked and drew his blade up onto his shoulder and smartly said "You have nerve, I'll give you that. I think I'll enjoy cleaving you apart. Maybe before I do I'll have a little fun with you. I'll show you could show a man a real good time. Perhaps I could even keep you as a pet."

Glaring defiantly at the demon, the bobcat mage heatedly replied "The only way you will ever touch me in such a manner is if I'm dead."

"That can be arranged."

Charging towards the demoness as he held his sword up over his head one handed, the smirking demon swung downwards with tremendous force. Instead of using her barrier to block, she dodged the attack and drew her sword from it's sheath and brought it in front of herself.

Swiping out at her again, the one eyed demon raised an eyebrow when his opponent parried his attack. The force of his blade sent her skidding backwards before she dug in and managed to bring the attack to a stop.

"You think you can actually stop my sword? Are you retarded?"

Holding back the massive sword with her left hand bracing her own sword, the mage grit her teeth and felt a sheen of sweat forming on her face. "_He's so much stronger than me. I know for sure I can't fight him like this. I'm at too big a disadvantage to fight him head on. That leaves me with a few options._"

"_The first would be to face him head on and use my speed to beat him. The problem with that idea is that May's heavy attack did no damage to his body, so me cutting him might not be possible either due to his Hierro. The only other options I have are use Tsubaki or try fighting him with Kidō._"

After a moment of internal debate, she finally made her decision. "_I'll try Tsubaki first and if that don't work, I'll swap to Kidō._"

Leaping back away from her opponent and sheathing her sword, Orihime swung her arms out away from her body before bringing them in front of her with her palms facing the powerful demon.

"Koten Zanshun! I reject, I reject!"

Launching from her hairpin was a single beam of orange light that transformed into a black and red arrowhead. The arrowhead rocketed towards the confused demon and took on a bright orange glowing barrier. Reaching it's target, the arrowhead slashed the demon across the cheek. Instead of cutting his cheek, the arrowhead glanced off him and circled around to where the demoness was.

Eyes filled with surprise, the mage mumbled "No effect..."

"I already told you that my Hierro is the thickest of all demons. There is no way a weakling like you could hurt me."

"How about this!"

Turning around to find a series of spiked rocks growing up from the ground, the demon had no time to react as they slammed into his chest. He was pushed backwards by the sharpened stones and slammed roughly into a massive tree.

Smirking at her handy work while her hand still rested in the circle she had drawn, May declared "You shouldn't take your eyes off your opponents."

A few seconds went by before the rocks suddenly broke apart to reveal an unharmed smirking demon. Pointing at his chest where the stones had impacted him and revealing no marks on his body, he declared "No one can defeat me. I can't be killed by such weakling attacks. Crushing me is just not possible!"

"We'll see about that one!" Orihime fired back as she pointed her left index finger at the black haired demon. "Hadō 4: Byakurai!"

Glowing momentarily was a light blue electrical burst on the tip of the mage's finger. A beam of light blue electrical energy shot out and smashed into the chest of the smug demon. On impact, the attack spattered and shot electrical energy to the ground.

Cursing under her breath at the result, the demoness was quick to raise her left hand and turn it's palm towards the demon. "Try this one on for size! Hadō 31: **Shakkahō!"**

Flaring to life in her palm was a red flaming energy sphere. All at once, the sphere launched and struck the demon in the chest. Flames and smoke belched from the collision, but like before the results were no damage to the demon.

"Are you done yet?" Nnoitra asked. "It's rather boring to have to fight such a weakling."

Unperturbed, the demoness prepared to attack her foe once again. Before she could gather the energy to fire off another spell, her opponent came flying in with his blade pulled to his side. Unable to avoid the attack, she unsheathed her sword and used it to block the massive blade. Doing so sent her soaring into the air. Trying to regain her bearing mid-air, she flipped over a few times causing the bun on the back of her head to come undone and allow her burnt orange hair to come free. Landing back onto the ground she was quick to move into a defensive stance.

Charging hard towards the demoness with a cruel smirk on his face, the brutal demon cried out "You're done!"

Just as his large sword was about to cleave the surprised demoness in half, the weapon in the demon's hand was shot upwards. Glancing down to see a hand made of earth throwing his attack off course, he growled lowly when he realized it was the neko child that had once more come to the mage's aide.

"I've had enough of you and your cheap tricks kid! Die!"

The demon instantly stuck his tongue out at the neko child. Brilliant golden energy formed on the tip of it and gathered quickly into a sphere. In a flash a wide golden beam shot towards the surprised neko child.

Eyes wide and powerless to prevent the pending results of the attack, Orihime screamed loudly "MOVE MAY!"

Crossing the battlefield to where the child stood frozen in place with the energy of the beam reflecting in her eyes, the beam smashed into ground and exploded, sending dust and debris flying throughout the area. Maniacal laughter filled the air and escaped the lips of the powerful demon.

"And now for you." Nnoitra stated as he returned his attention to the demoness.

"Katon, Goukakyuu!"

Ripping the ground up and slamming hard into the one eyed demon as the bobcat mage escaped was an enormous fireball. The fireball completely engulfed the demon and pushed him away several feet before coming to rest and exploding. Hot chunks of rock scattered throughout the area and burned into the grass.

Gradually the smoke and dust cleared from the explosion to reveal that the top of the demon's spoon shaped like collar was gone and the remainder of his top and pants were somewhat singed.

"That is only the down payment on what I will do to you." a cold, harsh voice stated.

Looking to find the owner of the voice the familiar form of the dog demon mage, the female mage released a sigh of relief when she spotted the neko child in his one arm.

Gaze locked on the dog demon, May whispered "Poppa..."

"May, I want you to get back and leave this fight to me. Heal the wounded that come in."

Cutting the child off from protesting, Ryo added "I will deal with him. You need not worry anymore about fighting with this demon. He's my quarry now."

Finding the ground far more interesting at the moment, May softly replied "Alright."

Jumping down out of her father's arm and scampering off towards the far side where the injured remained, the neko child began ushering the wounded demons to leave the area. A few started to complain and defy her, but a cold glare from the black haired dog demon sent them away.

"Orihime."

Still staring down the pale skinned demon across the battlefield, the dog mage asked "Do you intend on continuing this fight?"

"I do." the female mage answered strongly.

Releasing a light grunt, he coldly said "Don't get in my way then. I can't guarantee that I won't hit you by accident, so be mindful of where you are."

Nodding back towards her fellow mage, the demoness couldn't help but inwardly shutter when she saw his sky blue eyes meet her gray ones for a moment. "_I've never felt such feelings from being around Ryo. He's always so easy going and carefree. His demonic aura, even when he was in battle, never was like this. It's like a raging inferno that has no intentions of stopping till it's destroyed everything. This must be due to the fact that Nnoitra tried to kill May. I just hope he can keep his head about him._"

"You there demon, tell me why you attacked my daughter. Pending on your answer is how long I'll prolong your death." Ryo coldly declared.

Grinning ear to ear, Nnoitra remarked "You'll kill me? Surely you jest. If you must know, that brat was in the way. You should have let me kill her."

Pointing a finger at the dog demon, the one eyed demon added "You claim her as your daughter, yet she is obviously a neko demon and you a dog demon. Such foolish attachment must make her your adopted daughter. Ironic a dog would adopt a cat."

"She is my daughter, regardless of her heritage. That is all you need to know. I'll enjoy slow roasting you." the dog demon darkly retorted.

Flying through a series of hand signs, the dog demon took in a deep breath and puffed up his chest. "_Katon, Goukakyuu!_"

Erupting from the dog mage's mouth was a massive fireball. It was twenty feet in diameter and seemed exceedingly fast. The massive sphere ripped up the very ground beneath it and moved towards the stationary black haired demon.

"Che, don't underestimate me." Nnoitra stated. Bringing his massive weapon up over his head with one hand, he swung downwards and cleaved the fireball in half. Both sides smashed into the ground simultaneously and ignited in a hell storm of towering flames.

Flashing away to a higher vantage point, the dog demon was finishing up another set of hand signs and brought his right hand up to beside his lips. "_Katon, Housenka!_"

A flurry of small fireballs escaped from the dog mage's mouth and started smashing into the ground surrounding his foe. Each fireball seemed to add to the flames starting to build around the one eyed demon and intensified drastically.

Whipping through another set of hand signs as he inhaled deeply and puffed out his chest, Ryo internally screamed "_Katon, Haisekisho!_"

Spewing from his mouth this time was a cloud of dark gray ash. The ash immediately encircled the trapped demon and shrouded him from sight from all outside viewers. A bit agitated by the fact he was surrounded by flames and now the ash, he started to try and swing his weapon through the ash when he suddenly felt something wrong.

Snapping his teeth together to cut off the ash that was still pouring from his mouth, the dog demon coldly said "Die."

Upon the mage's last words, the ash suddenly burst into flames and ignited the massive cloud that surrounded the one eyed demon. The intensity of the heat and explosion rocked the area and sent a great deal of rubble and smoke pouring into the air. At the same time, the tower of flames increased dramatically in size and threatened to go out of control.

Panting lightly as he stared down the towering flames, Ryo icily said "I cannot tolerate those that would dare harm a child."

Flashing to the side of the dog demon and putting a concerned hand on his arm, Orihime softly asked "Are you alright?"

"I will be in a moment."

"Looks like you overdid it a bit."

Standing up straight and closing his eyes as he slowed his breathing, Ryo reopened his light blue eyes and flashed a small smirk before saying "Maybe."

"That was a damn fine attack there at last."

Both mages immediately turned their attention to the now dying flames. Walking out from the remainder of them was an unharmed one-eyed demon. His top was still smoldering and was missing some parts of it, while his pants remained mostly intact. The massive sword in his right hand was steaming and seemed to be blackened a bit from the intense flames.

Knocking a bit of the soot that covered his chest, Nnoitra smugly stated "You seem awfully shocked that I survived. Those were some impressive attacks. For a moment there, I thought you might actually hurt me, but it seems I was too quick to make that call seeing how I survived without a scratch."

"I've only faced a few fire demons before, so fighting someone who uses fire type attacks is new to me. Those that I fought were weaklings, but you, you have power. Each of those attacks had quite a bit of heat behind them. If I hadn't shut my eye and held my breath, perhaps that last attack would have killed me. That is a bit of a stretch, but I'll give it to you."

Taking a few more steps forward before coming to a stop, the one-eyed demon sneered at the pair and added "That was a three stage attack, right? The first was to draw my attention since it didn't have that much power behind it like the first time. That second attack was to detain me and force me into a standing position while you prepped your third attack. The last one, you mixed something in with the ash that ignited when you snapped your teeth shut. Got to say, it was pretty impressive."

Clenching his fists shut tightly, the dog demon started growling lowly as his sclera clouded over with red and his irises changed to a dark orange color. Feeling a hand suddenly on his shoulder, he stopped growling to see a serious looking bobcat demoness staring hard at him.

"Don't." was the only word she said. "Transforming won't beat him."

Visibly angry at the demoness for reprimanding him, Ryo was about to fiercely reply when she added "Losing your composure will only give him an opening. Ryo, we need to work together if we're going to bring him down."

Rationality returned to the dog mage instantly and his eyes returned to their normal light blue coloring. Inhaling deeply and squeezing his eyes shut as he calmed himself, the fire mage let out a heavy sigh and reopened calmed eyes.

"Let me bind him and then we can combine spells like earlier, like when we gave the signal to the troops. Just be sure to use your strongest fire spell." Orihime commanded.

Receiving a nod from her fellow mage, the demoness started moving towards the ready to fight black haired demon. He smirked hungrily at her as her soft footsteps carried her towards him.

"So you're going to fight me again, huh? Whatever tricks you have whore won't matter, for you are weak."

Unfazed by the name calling of her opponent, the demoness held her left hand up in front of her with her index and middle finger up in the air. In a mere whisper, she whispered "Carriage of Thunder. Bridge of a spinning wheel. With light, divide this into six."

Gray eyes meeting the violet ones of her opponent, she pointed her index finger at the demon and proudly declared "Bakudō 61: Rikujōkōrō."

Six blades of golden beams of light that were rectangular in shape suddenly materialized around the one-eyed demon in a large circle. In a flash, the six shot forward at breakneck speeds and slammed into his body around his midsection.

Sneering at the binding, the demon declared "That won't hold me for ..."

Trying to move his body, he suddenly realized that he couldn't move. Attempting to use his weapon it dawned on him that his arm was not responding. Struggling, he attempted to break free to discover the binding was holding firmly.

"What the hell is this!"

Lowering her arm and moving her right hand to the hilt of her sword, Orihime coolly replied "That is a binding spell. And this is the end for you."

Drawing her sword out deliberately slowly, she swung the blade out to the side, causing a whistling sound to fill the air from where the blade cut through it. Raising her sword up so that it was vertically in front of her, she released her hold on the sword as it seemed to levitate on it's own.

Proceeding to tap the hilt of her sword with her right hand, the demoness watched as the blade started spinning like a pinwheel. The speed increased drastically till it seemed to look more like a saw blade. Reaching out suddenly, she grasped hold of the hilt with the blade turned downwards and pointing to the ground.

"Hadō 58: **Tenran!"**

**Flaring out from the demoness around the sword was a massive twister of swirling destructive wind. The wind engulfed the one-eyed demon and sent his hair flying about and the tattered remnants of his clothing flapping.**

**About to make a statement, the assaulted demon's eyes widened in shock when he saw the dog demon by the female mage's side. He was flying through series of hand signs and suddenly puffed his chest out greatly as he inhaled deeply.**

**"**_Katon, Karyū Endan!_"

Exhaling with all his might, Ryo shot out a burst of searing hot flames. The flames burst out from the dog mage's mouth in a massive thin layer of flames that seemed to form a bubble in front of him. They quickly changed into a stream of blazing flames that was cylinder like shaped and traveled the ground quickly. Entering into the twister, the flames accelerated even more and became fiercer that released originally.

Reaching their target, the enhanced flames scored a direct hit, but at the same time, the stream of fire pouring from the dog mage's mouth intensified. The result increased the heat released from the fiery stream.

For almost two minutes, the stream continued to be poured out and assaulted it's opponent before at last the dog demon ran out of breath and could no longer produce the attack. Out of breath, he started gulping in air rapidly and tried to feed his body the oxygen it yearned for.

Simultaneously, the bobcat mage released her own attack and dug her blade into the ground. Using it to lean on as she continued to stare at the still burning attack the pair had launched, she felt her body begging for her to take a break.

"Did that do it?" she questioned aloud.

Still panting heavily, the dog demon replied "I think so."

Bit by bit, the flames started dying down. As the vestiges of flames cleared away, the body of the one-eyed demon could be seen. In front of his body in a protective manner was his massive sword, with wisps of smoke pouring off of it. His left cheek had a bit of a bad burn on it and the left leg of his pants was completely burned off and several burns littered it.

Grinding his teeth as he glared at the pair of mages, Nnoitra snarled out "You bastards managed to actually hurt me. I will not forgive that!"

Sneering as he lowered his weapon, he added "If I hadn't broken free from that binding spell, you'd have no doubt done a lot more damage. Lucky for me I broke it and raised my sword up to block that attack. Still, some of it got through. For the pain you inflicted upon me, I'll return it with interest and then some."

Vanishing in a blur, the crazed demon appeared directly to the side of the dog demon. He sneered as he swung his blade horizontally, intentions clear.

"Santen Kesshun! I reject, I reject!"

Protectively forming before the dog mage was a familiar orange triangular barrier. The massive sword struck the barrier and ground against it for a few long moments until the agitated demon withdrew the weapon.

Throwing a fierce glare at the demoness, the violet eyed demon snarled out "YOU BITCH, YOU'RE GETTING IN MY WAY AGAIN!"

Drawing back his weapon, he swung around quickly and slashed at the demoness. Using her own sword to parry the attack, she was thrown backwards. Back flipping and landing on the balls of her feet, the mage gasped as she saw her attacker directly in front of her with his blade drawn up above his head and swinging downwards.

"Santen Kesshun! I reject, I reject!"

The large sword was stopped immediately by the triangular energy barrier. Sparks flew from the intensity of the attack.

Not giving up, the demon pressed more of his weight and strength into the attack and grinned evilly as the barrier began to buckle under his might. Pushing harder, he let loose a mighty laugh due that victory appeared in hand.

Gritting her teeth as she did all she could to hold the barrier up, the demoness pushed more of her energy into the barrier. The cracks that had begun forming stopped increasing, but the damage was already done. In her mind, Orihime began weighing out what she should do since the barrier was still wavering.

Making her mind up, she pointed at the attacking demon with her left index finger and called out "Hadō 1: Shō!"

An invisible force suddenly sent the attacking demon flying backwards. He quickly recovered and landed on his feet with anger visibly radiating off of him in waves.

"Whore, you will pay for that."

Appearing in his vision suddenly was the dog mage. The mage had a hardened look in his eyes. Reaching out with his left hand, he ripped his flowing red robes off to reveal a tight fitting set of red and white metallic body armor.

"Enough. I'll finish you quickly." Ryo stated. Holding his left arm out directly in front of himself, he yelled out "Armor of Wildfire, Dao Jin!"

Reaching out and holding his left wrist with his right hand, the mage was engulfed in blinding white light. A glimmer of red armor with twin swords on it's back became visible for only a brief moment before the light intensified. Slowly, the armor slid back towards him and vanished completely.

Without warning, flames covered Ryo's body completely. The flames soon receded, revealing he was still standing as he was but now was covered in the red armor that had been seen moments before from head to toe. On his legs, thick armor covered his feet, shins, and calves while a battle skirt protected his hips and groin. A strong chest plate covered his chest, which wrapped around his body. On his shoulders were shoulder pads that stuck outwards in a forty-five degree angle. Attached to his back was a pair of swords in their sheaths. His head was covered by a helmet that had a pair of silver horns sticking out to each side.

"You want trouble, come and get it."


	20. Chapter 20: Unexpected Arrival

**Hello everybody! So, my mate and I are officially moved into our new house this past weekend. It was an interesting move, with rain at the end just as we got everything into the house. Well, we had a little rain once we loaded up our last load, but it sprinkled only till we got the furniture unloaded. Needless to say, it was a very long and tedious move, however it's done. And on that note, I never wish to move again. Ever. Now that we're moved in it's just a matter of getting everything where it goes. Most of the furniture is where it belongs, except for our guest room and computer room. They're kind of in shambles still yet. Plus I'm trying my best to catch up with the yard work. Last Friday, I took off the day to try and get everything cut back and succeeded somewhat. I managed to get our front yard and side done, but alas quit since I had been out working on it most of the day (nearly 6 hours, give or take). I'm nearly done with the remainder of the backyard, though it did rain on me the night I tried to finish it off. Oh well, can't win them all. At least we have a push mower now which will make life that much easier when I get back to cutting grass. Other than that, not much else new in life.**

**Writing wise, meh, I'm so behind... I got on a good tear of writing earlier in the week, but since I've slowed down again. Hopefully I'll get things done soon, so no worries. I'm uncertain how many chapters remain. Mentally, I have stuff in the plot that I'm basing the chapters off of, but I've been so bad at figuring out how long stuff takes, so I'll say that it will last at least the remainder of the summer.**

**Thanks to auronsword for your review. I really appreciated it.**

**Well, that's about it for me. This story is over halfway done, but not quite down to the nitty gritty, so remember that there are things to come. Thanks to all that have read and reviewed as always. Enjoy!**

**Meanings for certain words:**

_**Katon, Gōryūka = Fire Element, Great Dragon Fire**_

**Chapter 20**

Running his eyes over the red armored dog demon, Nnoitra smirked and smartly said "So you're one of the five demons I've heard of that possesses mystical armor. Each of you has some kind of power over an element. That explains the reason you're able to use such powerful fire based spells against me."

"I wonder will you be able to take me on now?" he added with a sneer on his face.

Reaching up and grasping the blue wrapped hilts of each sword strapped to his back, Ryo drew the twin blades and brought them out to each side of his body. Each of the swords' polished blades glinted in the sunlight as he readied them.

Still smirking, the one eyed demon shifted his stance a bit and raised his own massive sword up beside his body. Launching forward at breakneck speed, he quickly reached the dog demon and leapt into the air and swung his blade around a few times. Bringing it downwards, he swung with tremendous force.

Catching the attack with his twin katanas, the dog demon sank slightly into the ground as the powerful blow landed in his crossed swords. Gritting his teeth and throwing a fierce glare at the crazed demon, he pushed the sword up and slashed out at the body of his opponent.

Dodging the attack and expertly spinning around to cut down the dog mage, the one eyed demon found his blade met by one of the twin swords of his foe. Grabbing hold of his sword with both hands he heaved the large bladed weapon up and swung downwards, only to be parried.

Again and again, the pair attempted to try and cut the other down. Repeatedly, each time, the other would parry or counter the attack. A stalemate seemed certain after nearly five minutes of producing the same results.

Pushing off and readying for another round, the crazed demon's single eye suddenly widened when he realized a small fireball was headed for his head. Instinctively, he blocked it with his left arm and let out a light growl when he saw that it was the bobcat mage who had shot the attack at him.

"Haven't you learned yet that you can't hurt me, wench? Your pathetic power is nothing compared to my hardened body!"

Showing unwavering determination, the mage charged up for another shot with a red fireball forming in her out turned palm. Bracing her right arm with her left, she called out "Hadō 31: **Shakkahō!"**

**Roaring forward, the fireball impacted the blade of the one eyed demon. At the last moment, he had raised his sword to block and effortlessly stop the attack.**

**Growling with irritation visibly on his face, he charged towards the female mage, screaming "I'll kill you, you stupid whore!"**

**Releasing shot after shot from her palm, the bobcat demoness kept her composure as the attacks were batted harmlessly away by the large weapon of her opponent. Having several feet separating them, she suddenly smirked and raised both hands up towards him.**

**"Wipe that grin off your face! You're about to die!"**

**Paying no heed, Orihime coolly said "**Bakudō 21: **Sekienton."**

**Spewing from her hands was a massive ball of red looking smoke. The smoke immediately engulfed her and the one eyed demon, hiding them completely from the outside world.**

**Skidding to a stop and examining his surroundings for a few moments, the crazed demon grit his teeth and yelled out "You think this will stop me!"**

**"**Bakudō 63: Sajo Sabaku."

Swirling around the shocked demon was a golden energy that took on the form of chains. The chains suddenly wrapped around him and tightened greatly, forcing his arms pressed up against his sides and making him drop his weapon. Struggling for a few moments, he quickly found the chains had wound themselves tightly to the point he couldn't break them and struggling was pointless.

"Sprinkled on the bones of the beast! Sharp tower, red crystal, steel ring. Move and become the wind, stop and become the calm. The sound of warring spears fills the empty castle!"

Hearing a loud sizzling sound, the bound demon looked furiously left and right to find the demoness, but found nothing but smoke. "LET ME GO!"

Appearing directly behind the demon with her left hand out and palm pointed to his back only inches away, the demoness calmly said "There is a gap in our powers, but at point blank range, you may find this a bit painful. Hadō 63: **Raikōhō!"**

**Bursting out from her palm and digging into the back of the bound demon in a flash was a massive beam of brightly glowing yellow energy. The beam shot the demon forward and through the cloud of smoke into some nearby trees before exploding. At the same time, the recoil from the attack sent the demoness skidding backwards out of the smoke.**

**Surprised at the outcome of the bout, Ryo ran up to Orihime's side to find her still standing and wisps of smoke pouring off her left hand in waves. She was unharmed, but it was obvious she was a bit winded. Besides that, he noticed that her eyes were shut tightly, cutting her off from seeing the damage she had inflicted on the ground and her enemy.**

**"Are you okay?"**

**"I'm fine." she affirmed quietly as her eyes fluttered open.**

**Frowning, he asked "Why did you have your eyes closed?"**

**Letting out a slight chuckle, she answered him, saying "In the smoke, it's pointless to use your eyes. You have to use your other senses. That's the reason why I had them shut."**

**"Ah."**

**Hearing stirring in the area where the one eyed demon had landed, the pair readied themselves as the demon slowly stood back up. With his back to them, they could see where the yellow lightning beam had actually managed to scorch his skin and leave an inch deep wound that was oddly shaped. Smoke poured from it and a bit of blood leaked down from it as well.**

**Turning back around to face the pair, Nnoitra flashed an angry glare towards the demoness while he ground his teeth loudly. Gripping his weapon tightly, he pointed it at her and coldly declared "I will take my time in killing you."**

**"I'll finish this. Stay back." Ryo whispered to the demoness.**

**Acknowledging his statement, Orihime leapt backwards a few feet to give her fellow mage some room to battle.**

**Walking forward with his armor clicking and clacking, the dog mage came to a stop. Flames suddenly erupted from his armor and completely engulfed him. At the same time, his own power seemed augmented and was growing stronger by the second.**

**Bringing both katanas in front of him, he smashed the ends of the hilts together, joining them into a lance with white hot flames dancing across the combined swords. Leaping into the air and drawing the lance up over his head, the dog mage's flames increased dramatically to the point no one could look at him.**

**Taking no chances, Nnoitra raised his blade up in front of himself to defend his body, but the blazing weapon in the mage's hand seemed to reveal the futility of such actions.**

**"FLARE UP NOW!"**

**Swinging his land downwards at full power, his white hot lance cut through the a portion of the outer blade of the one eyed demon like it was a hot knife through butter. Slicing through it cleanly, the lance sliced straight through the demon's thick skin on his left shoulder. The blade continued cleaving downwards before exiting the stunned demon's body and smashing into the ground, causing a massive white blinding explosion.**

**Sliding backwards away from the explosion before coming to a stop, the armored dog demon smirked as the blast continued to burn away.**

**Running up to the dog mage's side, Orihime stared at the ensuing flaming blast. Closing her eyes, she reached out with her senses in search of their opponent. Scrunching up her face, she suddenly opened her eyes wide.**

**"He survived?"**

Throwing a concerned look at the raging inferno, the dog demon let out a light grunt of annoyance as the flames began to recede and his own senses confirmed what the demoness had told him. "Damn, what does it take to kill him?"

Revealed at long last once the flames dissipated, the one eyed demon was heavily panting and sitting on his knees. Gritting his teeth as he glared at the pair of mages, he heard the sound of his blood splashing to the ground and staining it crimson. Digging his left hand's fingers into the dirt, he stood up once more, but nearly stumbled forward with his head down. Standing still for several moments with his massive weapon out to his right side, he began drawing up on his reserves and was covered in a bright yellow demonic aura.

"His aura is growing stronger..." Orihime whispered in shock.

Taking up a defensive stance, Ryo readied himself for an onslaught that he knew would come from their enemy.

"Assholes."

Grinding his teeth loudly, Nnoitra muttered "There is no way I'll die!"

"I... I... I..."

Raising his head and sword up into the air, he roared out "I CAN'T DIE! PRAY SANTA TERESA!"

A surging blast of yellow demonic energy suddenly ignited in the center of the open ended blades of the one eyed demon and shot a powerful gust of wind and aura out over the area must like an explosion. The massive wind generated from the explosion sent the grass and trees swaying back and forth and shot debris and dust up from the ground.

Hair and clothing whipping in the wind, Orihime's eyes were wide. Fear and shock filled them as she tried to maintain her footing.

"_This power, it's almost unbelievable. Do I even stand a chance against something like this!_"

Images of her orange haired mate suddenly rose up in her mind, hardening her resolve. "_I cannot back down. I promised Ichigo I would be here when he got back and I mean to fulfill that promise. There is no way I can die or flee. Too much is riding on this fight._"

Staring down the fierce explosion, Ryo tightened his grip on his lance. "_No way I can back down from this fight. I'll stop him, no matter what._"

Suddenly subsiding, the explosion dissipated and left the dust in the air in it's wake. Without warning, a large shadowed figure of a massive crescent moon appeared within the dust. The figure of the crescent moon appeared to have it's tips pointing up to the sky.

With the dust at last gone, the form of the one eyed demon became visible. On the sides of his head was a curved blade like horn each. The one of the left was nearly six inches longer than the one on the left, with the pair forming what appeared to be a crescent moon like shape. The next most visible change to the demon was the fact he had six bone arms like arms. Each was somewhat muscular and held a massive scythe each that was black with silver on the blade. His eye patch was replaced by a bone like eye patch that seemed to have teeth over the eye. Lastly, all of his wounds were closed up and no longer bleeding.

"Impossible..." Ryo whispered in utter shock. "That was a hit from my strongest attack!"

Grinning madly, Nnoitra snidely asked "So, how does it feel to be in the presence of someone who has released their Resurrección?"

Inching closer to her fellow mage and leaning in close, Orihime softly whispered "Ryo, I have an idea. Can you do that attack you used to wound him again?"

"Yeah, but I'll need a moment to build up my power. He'll surely attack me if I start to power up."

"Leave it to me to distract him." she replied with a small smirk forming on her face.

Stepping away from the dog mage, the demoness moved several feet towards the crazed demon with many scythes in hand. Deliberately drawing her sword slowly from her sheath before bringing it out completely, she swung the sword out causing it to make a whistling sound.

"Oh, you're going to fight me again bitch? What can you and your pathetic magic do?" Nnoitra challenged.

Keeping her composure as she raised her sword up so that it was horizontal and her left hand braced it, the mage coolly remarked "You're about to see. Hadō 32: **Ōkasen!"**

**Flaring across the entire length of her z**anpakutō was golden demonic aura that originated from a sphere in the center of the blade. The aura shot out without warning in a wide golden beam.

Sneering at the incoming attack, the demon made no motion to dodge. Instead, he used one of his six scythes to deflect the beam away.

"Hadō 4: Byakurai!"

A beam of light blue lightning flared through the remainder of the golden energy and smashed into the chest of the one eyed demon. The beam completely caught him off guard and made him stumble backwards a few steps.

"Bakudō 62: **Hyapporankan!"**

**Thrown by the demoness like a javelin during the commotion was a glowing hexagon shaped rod of violet energy. The rod suddenly multiplied into several rods and attempted to embed into the skin and weapons of the surprised demon. He was shoved backwards roughly by the power behind the rod and pinned effectively to a large rock.**

**"Why you little ..."**

**"Flare Up Now!"**

**Realizing the danger he was in as he caught sight of the dog mage with his fiery lance drawn above him was mid-air and coming down at him quickly. Breaking free of his restraints, the one eyed demon raised his six blades up and caught the white glowing lance. The impact from catching the lance made the ground beneath his feet start to crumble and the rock behind him crack from where he was being pushed against it. A few moments passed before at long last a white hot explosion engulfed his body.**

**Skidding away and coming to rest several feet back, Ryo panted heavy as he stared at the blast from his attack. "****_He caught it. I know for certain I didn't cut his body but that blast may have done the trick and incinerated his body. Regardless, I need to be on guard just in case ..._****"**

**Broken from his thoughts by a loud scream, the dog demon saw the one eyed demon come racing out of the flames with a look of complete insanity on his face. Unable to move, the mage shifted his lance up to block the attack. Instead of stopping the sweeping scythes, the lance got cut through as if it was made of paper. A strangled gasp slid from the lips of the mage as three of the scythes cut through his armor and tore into his left shoulder and side.**

**Chuckling darkly while blood poured down onto his scythes, Nnoitra smugly asked "Is this the extent of your pathetic armor? Hell, I'd ask for a refund if I were you."**

**Cringing and finding it difficult to breath due to the one scythe dug into his side, the dog mage let out a yelp of pain as the three blades were extracted. Instinctively, he leapt back a few feet to put some distance between himself and his enemy. Blood spattered to the ground and leaked down his left side and filled his nostrils with the scent of the metallic liquid.**

"Done already?"

Glaring at the one eyed demon for a moment, Ryo broke his glare away to look at the remainder of the lance in his hand. Deciding it was useless, he returned his vision to his foe. Sliding his light blue eyes shut, he snapped them open and leapt high into the air backwards.

Sneering at this, the crazed demon began to pursue but stopped when he saw his opponent toss his broken weapon into the ground.

Flying through a series of hand signs during his ascension, the dog demon cried out "Burn in hell you bastard! Katon, Gōryūka!"

Drawing in a deep breath, the mage released a stream of super heated flames. The flames quickly took shape of a massive dragon's head with a long flowing main sweeping back over it's back. Smashing into the ground where the one eyed demon stood, the dragon exploded and created a tower of flames that enveloped him.

Not finished, the mage released four more streams of the flames that created an additional four dragon heads. The four heads in a combination attack struck the previously formed tower and increased it's size by tenfold. Roaring flames sent heat bursting throughout the area and making it unbearably hot and impossible to approach the spire.

Falling back to the ground and landing on the balls of his feet, the mage panted heavily and crouched down to keep from toppling over. Without warning, his armor vanished, along with his white and red bodysuit, leaving him once more in his red robes.

"Ryo!"

Reaching her fellow mage's side, Orihime quickly began examining his shoulder and side wounds. "Hold still, I'll heal you."

"Just ... give ... me a moment." Ryo panted out between breaths.

Nodding her head, the bobcat mage glanced back at the towering inferno. "_I can feel the heat this far away. We're at least a good twenty-four yards or more easily, yet I feel the flames as if we're on top of them. What power..._"

Broken out of her thoughts by the sound of maniacal laughter, the female mage gasped in shock as she saw the figure of their foe slowly striding out of the flames. He had a few serious burns covering his body, along with his top completely gone and only a shred of his pants remaining to give him some coverage of his lower region. The twin horns on the side of his head were glowing bright red each with steam pouring off of them.

"Was that the best you could do?"

Watching the dog mage clench his hands tightly only made the one eyed demon laugh even louder than before. "Pathetic. You think too little of me to believe that an attack at that level would finish me off. Now I think it's time I got down to business and killed the two of you. I've played for far too long and it's time to get back to work."

Readying the six scythes, Nnoitra charged forward with a loud scream. He instantly closed the gap between himself and the mages to the point he was upon them in a mere second.

Unable to bring her powers out in time, Orihime felt herself beginning to panic. "_I can't stop him! Ichigo, no..._"

"Bakudō 81: **Danku."**

**Materializing in front of the pair of mages protectively without warning was a translucent rectangular wall. The wall held it's ground and did not even crack from the force of all six of the one eyed demon's scythes slamming into it.**

**In shock from the sudden appearance of the barrier, the pair of mages quickly found the source of the spell standing fifteen yards away. There stood a large burly short pink haired man with a calm, but gentle look on his face.**

**"It seems we made it just in time." he stated as he let out a sigh of relief.**

**"Hachi?" Orihime questioned, her voice revealing how surprised she actually was. "But how?"**

**"A new comer, eh?" Nnoitra stated, forcing the three to return their attention to him once more.**

**Jumping back several feet, the one eyed demon stared down the burly hanyou and muttered "I should have known someone would interfere. Tell me, are you strong fat man?"**

**Receiving no answer, the crazed demon grew impatient and yelled "I asked you a question!"**

**"Kami you're a loud one!" an annoyed voice declared.**

**Finding the owner belonged to a blonde haired young woman with hair pulled into two separate bunches on the side of her head, Nnoitra sneered, saying "You're one to talk, snaggle tooth."**

**Visibly irritated with vein popping on her forehead, the woman began to fiercely reply, but was cut off by another arrival, this one being a young looking man with short straight blonde hair and brown eyes.**

**"Hiyori, don't get so worked up. He wants you to foolishly charge in and get yourself hurt."**

**Throwing a smoldering glare at the blonde, Hiyori growled out "I know that dumbass."**

Releasing a heavy sigh, Shinji turned his gaze to where Orihime stood in shock and gave her a kind smile. "Been a while since we last saw each other, Orihime."

"Shinji, Hiyori, Hachi... But how? I thought you three were still in the Northern Lands with Lady Neliel." the confused demoness stated.

Still smiling, the lion hanyou replied "We were until Neliel announced a decision. About two weeks after Ichigo and you left, she decided to enter into the war. She went and talked with Kisuke about how to go about it, seeing how she didn't want to officially go in with the Western and Northern Lands."

"It wasn't long after that before she told us the plan. Kisuke had been planning on entering the war himself and was determined to reach the Eastern Lands to finish off a former apprentice whom was supplying both the East and South weapons. The plan was simple: he would get us into the Eastern Lands and from there, were would split up. Altogether, four would go to the Eastern Lands while the remaining five of us would go to the Southern Lands."

"Who went where?" Orihime curiously asked.

Smirking slightly, Hiyori spoke up, saying "Obviously, Shinji, Hachi, and I came here. The other two are Rose and Love. Lady Neliel, Lisa, Kensei, and Mashiro went deeper into the Eastern Lands to help the forces of the Northern Lands. Kisuke himself slacked off and went his own way to face his former apprentice."

Digesting what the two had just told her, the bobcat mage nodded her head slightly. "I see, so Lady Neliel decided to help after all. Thank goodness."

Flashing away to each side of the demoness, the two hanyou's took up ready stances. Both fingered the hilt of their swords, showing signs of ready for battle.

"Orihime, what's this guy's story?" the lion hanyou quietly asked.

Keeping an eye on their opponent, the female mage whispered back "His name is Nnoitra Gilga, a Southern Lands soldier. He snuck into where our wounded were being treated and has since been fighting myself and Ryo here. I'm sure you've already assumed he is a melee fighter and you would be correct. What you are seeing right now is his Resurrección form. It's very overpowering and difficult to combat since he has six weapons. Besides that, he can use a very powerful Cero and he has very thick Hierro. It's so thick that it took level sixty Kidō just to penetrate his skin. Ryo had to use his Armor of Wildfire to cut through it, but when we had injured him greatly, he released his zanpakutō and entered into that form. Since then we haven't been able to injure him, not to mention his previous injuries sealed themselves shut and stopped the bleeding."

Mulling over her description of the situation, the three hanyous remained silent for several moments, giving the battlefield an eerie feeling. The silence soon vanished with a faint chuckle heard from the lion hanyou.

"Sounds like this is going to be interesting."

Shocked at the blonde's words, the demoness was about to respond but was cut off by the battle hanyou.

"You're right for once, dumbass."

Remaining silent as he edged forward, the pink haired hanyou remarked "This will be a true challenge, but I believe together we can bring him down."

Staring at the three in disbelief, Orihime couldn't help but feel a small smile form on her face as she let out a soft chuckle. "You three are insane."

"Maybe, but we'll win this battle regardless." Shinji confidently stated.

000

000

"Mashiro Kick!"

Slamming a boot covered foot into another soldier's face that instantaneously killed him was the green haired form of Mashiro who wore her insect like hollow mask. Sticking the landing, she performed a pose with her arm in a muscle formed and declared "Victory!"

"Don't get careless, Mashiro." Kensei scolded from behind her as he slammed his fist into another bat demon's face. "Remember the last time you did you nearly lost a leg."

Planting her hands on her hips and fuming at the wolf hanyou, the green haired hanyou retorted in a echo like voice "Idiot Kensei, I'll be fine. I know you're more worried about me than you need to be, but don't worry, I promise I won't get hurt and endanger our child."

"You're not even pregnant you lunatic! As if we would ever mate!" Kensei snarled out in an enraged tone.

Chuckling under her breath as she turned away and took to the air, the moth hanyou whispered "I can always hope."

000

000

Senses sweeping wide for any traps or ambushes as he ran down the corridor towards the roof of the Southern Keep, Iya couldn't shake the feeling that he was rushing into a trap. At first, he had chalked it up to the fact that he knew the Southern Lord would not fall without putting up a fight, but then it began to feel as if there was something more.

Coming to the end of the long hallway he entered into a large waiting room. Finding one person standing at the doorway that led to the roof, he couldn't help but suppress an internal growl.

"Lord Iya."

Meeting the gaze of the curt demoness, Iya replied "Botan. If you intend on stopping me, you best be quick about it. I won't hesitate to cut you down if need be, so think fast if you want to face off with me."

"I do not intend on fighting with you, Lord Iya."

"Good." was the one word answer of the hanyou as he moved towards the doorway. "Step aside and I'll be on my way."

Watching her step aside, he proceeded towards the door. Just as he passed by her, the dog hanyou's senses went on high as he felt himself enveloped from behind in a desperate hug. Unsure of her intent and not willing to leave himself open to attack from behind, he whipped around to face her and take hold of her wrists.

Looking up at him in a pleading way, she whispered "Take me away from here and make me your concubine."

"Come again?" the hanyou questioned in confusion.

Staring into his muddy brown eyes with her own pink ones, Botan whimpered out "Make me your concubine and take me away from this place. I want to be of some use and this is the only way I can think of. Lord Aikamaru's time is ending, I can see that. That is why I offer myself as the spoils of war."

"You're not a treasure to be won from war." Iya stated as he released her wrists and hastily turned away. "I have no need of concubines. My mate is the only woman that I would ever lie with and wish for. Find someone else."

Refusing to accept the answer given to her, she desperately wrapped her arms around him again and cried out "I want you to have me. Make my life worth something! I can give you plenty of strong children. They won't be the true heirs but at least I can give you something in return!"

Breaking free of her and turning to face the demoness once again, the hanyou calmly replied "I have no need of you as a concubine. If you wish to make something of your life then do so with your own two hands. There is no need to resort to such a lowly status as a concubine to prove yourself as being useful."

Crying hysterically, Botan yelled "Take me!"

Unwilling to waste any more time with the demoness, Iya punched her heavily in the gut, making her pass out from the pain. Catching her before she could fall, he dragged her back into the waiting room and laid her down upon the ground. Folding her hands over her stomach, he stood and turned away from her unconscious form, but not without letting out a heavy sigh.

"Sorry, but I can't accept your offer. I only hope when you wake up to a new world that you realize doing something so foolish as you did isn't the answer to making your life count."

His words said, the hanyou raced towards the doorway that he had been intent on entering and moved onwards towards his destination.

000

000

Swords clanging loudly, the quarter bobcat demon and hybrid demon fell away from one another and hit the ground hard. Both were coated in a sheen of sweat and each were panting heavily.

"_What the hell am I going to do? I've pressed the attack several times and I still haven't been able to get inside his defenses and even truly hurt him. The best I've done is give him a couple of shallow cuts, though I paid for that with a few of my own. At this pace, it'll be over soon._"

Trying to calm his breathing as he slid his golden eyes shut, Ichigo slowly reopened them and stared at the tiring form of his opponent. "_My mask can last about another ten minutes or so, give or take. If I don't finish this battle in that time limit, I'll be at his mercy._"

Inhaling deeply and at last catching his breath, the orange haired quarter demon brought his blade up in front of himself. The rattling of the chain was the only sound heard as he prepared to go back on the offensive yet again.

"_Can't waste any time worrying about what could happen. I need to take the fight to him and bring him down._"

Flashing away and reappearing directly behind his opponent, the quarter demon was quick to launch the attack. His blade was met by his foe's elongated sword, causing the familiar sound of steel ringing. Sparks flew while the two blades ground against one another, each seeking dominance over the other.

Irritation set in as he pushed off and started a flurry of slashes and stabs. Each of his attacks were expertly blocked or brushed aside, yet his foe could not seem to return the favor or get the chance to counter.

Putting some distance between himself and the silver haired demon, the quarter demon rose up into the air and drew his blade up over his head. Black and red demonic aura instantly poured out around the blade and began spiraling around the sword.

"Getsuga Tenshō!"

Swinging the blade down with all the force he could he shot out a black and red swirling crescent moon shaped energy blade.

Bringing his elongated blade up horizontally in front of himself as a reaction to the quarter demon's movements, the hybrid demon summoned forth his silver aura. A crimson aura instantly coated the length of the sword's blade, giving it an eerie glow. Without a second thought, he released a massive crimson beam of demonic energy straight at the incoming attack.

Meeting between the pair of fighters, the two powerful attacks slammed head on into one another. The two fought against one another for nearly a minute in an epic clash of raw power and display of brilliant crimson and black swirling light. Finally, the blasts slowly subsided and cancelled one another out, leaving the pair of winded fighters behind.

"You surprise me yet again, Ichigo Kurosaki." Sephiroth managed to rasp out.

Landing on the ground and panting heavily still, Ichigo remained quiet as he tried his best to calm his breathing back down to normal.

Smirking coldly, the hybrid demon coldly said "It has been far too long since I have had a battle at this level. For entertaining me this long, I show you respect."

"However, you have yet to see what I am truly capable of."

Eyes narrowing a fraction, the quarter demon asked in a winded tone "You mean you're not at full power yet?"

"No." Sephiroth answered. "I always hold back just enough in case my opponent has some kind of hidden surprises. You seem to have reached your limit, prompting me to believe that this is the extent of your powers. To drag this battle on any further would be pointless, thus I believe it is time to bring this climax to it's long awaited end."

Stretching his black wing out as he took up a ready stance, the silver haired demon smirked just as his silver aura flared to life around his body. A powerful gust of wind kicked up from the intensity of the aura causing his hair to begin rustling gently.

"_What an intense demonic aura... Damn, this isn't good. I can raise my own power a bit more since I've not tapped my hollow completely. But bringing out more power makes my mask a bit more unstable, meaning my time using it will most likely be shortened. Not that I have much choice at this point._"

Shifting his stance a bit, the quarter demon suddenly heard in his mind a maniacal laugh. The laugh was a dead give away to whom was in his mind's presence.

"_King, why don't you let me take over if this is too much for you?_"

Glaring at his white doppelganger for a few seconds, the orange haired quarter demon growled out "_Get out of my mind! I don't have time for your shit at the moment!_"

Scoffing at the behavior of his supposed partner, the white doppelganger turned away with a shrug and said "_Fine, be that way King. Just fair warning, if you lose, I'll be rather pissed off with you._"

Not having the opportunity to retort, the quarter demon saw the white figure vanish from his mind's sight. Returning his attention to his opponent, he noticed something seemed off.

"_What's going on? I know his aura was increasing in power, but now it's back to almost right where it was before, if not just a touch above it. What the hell is happening?_"

Aura diminishing till the point it vanished, Sephiroth cruelly smiled at Ichigo. "Show me your strength."

Readying his black katana before himself, Ichigo's eyes suddenly widened when his opponent vanished, leaving behind only a loud boom. He started turning around just as his foe appeared four feet from behind him with his sword drawn up ready to stab him through the heart.

"_I'll never make it!_"

Thrusting his elongated blade forward, the hybrid demon let out a light grunt of irritation. The force of his attack had finished spinning the quarter demon around, but just as his attack had reached the back of his rival, the quarter demon had released a burst of black and red demonic energy in the form of an incomplete crescent moon. That single attack had forced his blade to stab the quarter demon in the right shoulder instead of the heart.

In an impressed tone, he said "You used your Getsuga Tenshō instinctively to redirect my attack so that it was no longer a fatal blow. Even I must admit your abilities impress me."

Hissing out in pain when the silver haired demon rotated the blade embedded in his shoulder, the quarter demon heard him add "But even so, how long do you expect to fight me if you continue to take wounds like this?"

"I'm not done..." Ichigo grunted out through his mask.

"Perhaps this will change your mind."

Glowing in a twenty foot perimeter under the black winged demon in the ground were several circular like flames preparing to erupt from the ground. All at once, they flared up into the air, destroying the floor and a portion of the ceiling in the process.

Ichigo emerged from the flames covered in smoke and panting heavily with his left hand covering his wound a few moments later. Staring into the flames, he saw his opponent was unharmed and slowly walking towards him. Releasing his wound, he leveled his sword out in front of him and prepared to reengage the silver haired demon.

Coming to a stop, the silver haired demon flashed away. The booming sound was the only indicator he had disappeared for a moment before reappearing high in the air on the far side of the massive room. Several large spheres of flaming rock appeared around him and began forming a circle, as if it was a protective barrier.

"The time has come. Let us to end it."

Holding his blade out to his right side, he declared loudly "Super Nova!"

Firing forward one after another were the spheres of flaming rock. More appeared around the black winged demon as each vanished.

Narrowing his golden eyes at the incoming meteor attacks, Ichigo quickly dodged the initial pelting by bouncing along the ground to and fro. As he did so, more and more of the meteors rained down in his direction, making dodging much more difficult to perform.

Realizing the danger he was in, he began moving faster and started flashing back and forth between the meteors. The constant evasion was starting to wear on him as one meteor caught the corner of his trench coats ripped up ends.

Without warning, the number of meteors increased dramatically, leaving very few gaps for the orange haired quarter demon to slip through. Growing a bit desperate he used his sword to cut through a few of the meteors, but discovered doing so was dangerous when one exploded upon impact with his black katana. Instinctively backing away, he backed right into another meteor and was caught in another explosion. Unable to do anything, he was pelted by a barrage of meteors repeatedly till at last smashed into the ground. The barrage did not let up even then and continued on for another good minute.

Landing back on the ground and surveying the damage, the silver haired demon smirked lightly and coolly stated "It is finished."

"Don't make me laugh."

Finding the form of his adversary emerging from the rubble his attack had caused, Sephiroth's lips thinned. "To survive that is certainly a miracle."

Panting heavily and leaning on his blade for support, Ichigo weakly coughed as blood spattered to the ground. The mask that once hid his face was gone, revealing blood trickling down from his mouth and some down the sides of his face. His entire body trembled under it's weight as he tried to steady himself with his sword.

"I will administer the final blow. Farewell, Ichigo Kurosaki."

That said, Sephiroth brought his blade horizontally before his body and started building up crimson demonic energy into the sword. Glowing menacingly, the length of the elongated sword covered itself in the sickly looking crimson aura.

Without saying a word, the hybrid demon launched his crimson Cero straight for the winded quarter demon.

Wounds aching, the quarter demon forced his body to straighten and swiped his left hand down his face. The motion summoned forth his mask once more, though it took a moment longer to form than previously.

"_Wait King, I wouldn't do that if ..._"

"_Shut up!_" Ichigo roared in his mind to his hollow. "_I'll use you how I see fit!_"

Summoning up his black and red demonic aura around his sword, he drew the blade up over his head as the aura swirled wildly around it. Swinging downwards with all the strength he had, he screamed out "Getsuga Tenshō!"

Screaming forward at breakneck speed, the crescent moon shaped attack slammed heavily into the crimson beam of his opponent. The two clashed and joined the battle of once more contesting dominance over one another.

Without warning, the mask on the quarter demon's face shattered, his eyes visibly filled with shock as the golden color in them returned to brown. "_Shit, my mask..._"

"_I tried to warn you King, but you didn't want to hear it._" the hollow scolded. "_Now look at the mess you've gotten us into._"

Unable to retort, Ichigo watched in horror as his attack lost power and was overwhelmed quickly by the crimson beam. The beam continued on at him and completely engulfed him.

Not stopping, the sheer power of the beam shot through the walls of the keep and emerged outside, leaving a gaping hole in the once impenetrable structure.

Slowly, the dust settled to reveal the massive hole and the form of the hybrid demon still standing where he had shot the attack. Lowering his blade, he swept it through the air and turned away from the destruction.

"Now to deal with Iya Taisho." Sephiroth stated as he took several strides towards the passageway the hanyou had entered into earlier.

Only a foot away from the doorway, he suddenly felt a presence of his opponent rising again and what sounded like an exhausted voice call out "Not ... yet..."

"Absurd. You still cling to life so desperately." the hybrid demon declared coldly as he turned around once again to find his opponent.

Back on his shaky feet and steadying himself with his black **z**anpakutō, Ichigo panted desperately to fill his lungs with air. Most of his trench coat was missing, along with portions of his pants. Both his sandals and socks were gone, and his obi seemed barely intact. Numerous cuts and burns covered his form while blood poured down from some of the wounds.

"Impossible. That should have finished you."

Desperately panting, the quarter demon's mind flashed back to the moments just as the crimson beam was about to engulf him.

000

000

"_Shit, I'll die!_"

Mind filling with images of his mate and realizing the consequences his death would bring her, he snarled back within his inner self "_NO! I won't let Orihime die! I cannot afford to die here, no matter what!_"

Out of desperation he reached up with a clawed like left hand. "_I just need a little power. Come on hollow, give it to me!_"

"_Che, now you want my help. Tell me why I should?_" the white doppelganger called from within his inner world.

"_Because if you don't, we'll both die. How is that for a reason._"

Visibly agitated and realizing he had no choice in the matter, the hollow remarked "_Fine King, however, just remember that it's your limitations that keep you in this danger zone. Try to mask, but I make no guarantees._"

Accepting the answer he got the quarter demon quickly dragged his clawed hand downwards. At first, nothing seemed to happen, but a quick moment passed before black and red demonic aura washed over his face and formed his mask once more.

The beam soon saw fit to remove the mask, but by then it's power had been reduced considerably.

000

000

"_If it wasn't for my mask, I'd be a dead man. That was too close for comfort._" Ichigo mumbled in his mind as he came out of his flashback.

Taking a few steps towards his opponent with his wing stretching out to it's full extent, Sephiroth coolly said "You are intriguing, Ichigo Kurosaki. Twice now, you should have died, yet you survived both of my greatest attacks."

"However, you are finished. What little power you have left is nothing in comparison to my true power. I will crush you under my heel with relative ease."

Managing to at last calm his breathing down a bit, the quarter demon let out a light chuckle as he forced his body to straighten fully. Smirking at his silver haired foe, he smartly replied "You're right, as I am, I'm done. With only the power I have left, I could never hope to bring you down."

Still smirking, he added "I was hoping that my Hollowfication would be enough to win this fight. I honestly thought that just it alone would be enough, but I see I was off base there and admit my miscalculation."

"But that doesn't mean I'm done." he stated as he drew his sword up out of the ground and brought it horizontally in front of himself with the hilt directly in front of the center of his body. Fingering the chain that ran off the end of the hilt, he eyed it for a few moments before drawing it taunt.

"I guess life just isn't that easy. It's time I showed you something no one else has ever seen or known that I have."

Jerking on the chain, he removed it completely from the hilt of his black katana. Immediately, a backwash of black and red aura spilled out and engulfed the quarter demon. Just before it did, he declared "Get ready for the end, Sephiroth."

**Thanks everyone for reading the chapter. Now, if you could do me a kind favor and review to let me know what you think of the chapter, I'd appreciate it.**


	21. Chapter 21: Wish to Protect

**Yo everyone! So the adventures of owning a home continue. We have a sink that was leaking when we first got the place (a surprise leak at that) and haven't used the sink since the weekend we painted. I at last got freed up to take a look at it only to find a surprise: it no longer leaks, lol. As I told my mate, it fixed itself. Other than that, not too many surprises, thankfully. I think our yellow jackets are at last dead that are on the front of the house thanks to a dousing or two of bee spray. Nothing else has really happened over the last few weeks, which is good since we could use less excitement.**

**Writing wise, I'm so slow at getting chapters done... I blame myself for this one, also the fact we moved and that work has been a bit more hectic, so there is little room for writing at times. No worries, this story will finish up without interruption, I think.**

**Thanks to Kattana for her review. It was good to hear from you again. I was starting to think something was up when you missed a week, but it's all good.**

**Well, that does it for me. Hopefully things will begin to pick up soon and I can get more writing done. That's my hope at the very least. Thanks for sticking with me everyone. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 21**

Skidding to a stop in the middle of the long corridor that was rising up towards the roof of the Southern Keep, Iya turned to look back the way he had come. Brow furrowing, he asked aloud to himself "What's going on? Ichigo's power is growing at a rate much faster than when he Hollowfies. There's no way he has that much power in him.

Hesitating, he took a step in the direction of his partner, but stopped when he heard the confident words he had been told when leaving behind said person.

"_Iya, let me deal with this guy since he doesn't seem to want to listen to reason._"

Remembering he had replied with "_Fair enough. Just make sure you win._", he couldn't help but feel better at the answer the quarter demon had given him.

"_Always. Just go on ahead and settle things with the Lord of the South._"

"He'll be fine. I can't afford to waste any more time."

Taking off once again up the stairway, the hanyou whispered in his mind "_You'd better not do something stupid, Ichigo._"

000

000

Sensing her mate's aura seemingly explode, Orihime couldn't help but turn her vision towards the massive stone structure. Feeling her mate's aura continuing to grow to levels she had never felt it reach before, she felt a sense of worry starting to creep into her mind.

"_Ichigo, what's happening in there? Even with your Hollowfication, your powers have never increased like this._"

A sudden feeling of dread she had felt the day she had seen the true form of the quarter demon's hollow started to cloud her mind. "_Did he lose control? Did his hollow break free?_"

Concentrating more on the aura, the demoness realized quickly that the aura was different from his usual hollow powers. "_That's not his hollow, I'm certain of that. His aura would be so much more horrific and foul if it was. But what could be happening if it's not his hollow?_"

Realizing she was letting her mind wander from the battlefield, she forced herself to refocus her efforts on finishing up the healing process on the dog mage kneeling next to her.

"_Ichigo will be fine. I have faith in him. He'll come back, I know it._"

000

000

The sensation of the power of his zanpakutō washing over him made Ichigo realize just how surreal the situation was. Black waves of power rippled around his body and bathed him in their intensity.

Eyes sliding shut, his mind slowly took him back to the time when he learned of the power that he was now unleashing.

000

000

"Orihime, I'll only be gone for a week."

Looking away with her cheeks revealing a shade of blush, Orihime shyly replied "I know, but I worry when you go away on your own. The last time something like this happened was when you unexpectedly left me behind at the Western Stronghold. I'm scared the same thing is about to happen."

Moving forward and placing both his hands onto her shoulders, Ichigo stared into the demoness's gray orbs with his own brown ones. Catching her off guard as he moved his one hand off her shoulder and cupped her cheek, he softly smiled at her.

"No matter what, I'll be back in a week. I promise." he told her with sincerity in his voice. "I will not leave you behind again."

Studying his eyes for several long moments and finding nothing but truth in his eyes and in his scent, the mage meekly nodded her head. Leaning into him and laying her head on his shoulder, she inhaled deeply. Remaining there in the moment and treasuring the fleeting moment of closeness, she at last pulled back to stare into his eyes once more.

Inclining his head down he pressed his lips to the bobcat demoness's lips and tasted them momentarily. The kiss soon grew slightly more hungry, but he held back like always and broke apart the kiss soon enough.

Stepping away and walking over to the far wall of his hut, the quarter demon grasped his zanpakutō's hilt and hoisted it up and placed onto his back. Turning back to gaze at the mage one more time, he kindly smiled.

"I promise Orihime, I will come back. Just wait a week."

With that said, he went out the flap of the hut, leaving the demoness behind. Walking away, the sound of soft sobbing did not escape his ears.

000

000

"Bankai."

Coming out of the black flame like aura that had engulfed him a moment before, Ichigo took in his surroundings momentarily. He had retreated to an area that was nearly a day away from the village that he had been in for almost nine years. In the area, he had previously found a cavern behind a waterfall and thought it would be perfect for his plans. Finding preparations were complete, he sat down onto the ground and placed his black katana in his lap with one hand wrapped around the hilt and the other holding the blade.

Sliding his eyes shut, the quarter demon slowly felt his mind starting to reach a state of calmness and searched out the entryway to his inner world.

Twenty minutes passed before at last he achieved entry and found himself entering within his inner world. The white clouds and bright blue sky shinned brightly and revealed that his state of mind was calm unlike some of his previous visits. Massive structures made of glass, concrete, and steel remained sideways within his world and stood as monuments, more like testaments to his goals.

Hearing a light fluttering sound near him, the quarter demon turned to find it was the one that had summoned him to his inner world. The person standing on a flag pole on the edge of one of the buildings was a young like man that had light blue eyes and wore a set of black robes that had a reddish tint to them. His neck length jet black hair fluttered around his head, giving him a strange appearance.

"I'm glad that you came, Ichigo."

"Of course I'd come when requested by you Tensa Zangetsu." the quarter demon answered. "I do have one question: why is he here?"

Sitting in a kneeling position with his white kimono shifting in the wind along with his white hair, the white doppelganger of the quarter demon threw a playful glare at his counter part and put his hand to his chest as if hurt.

"You hurt my feelings, Ichigo." the hollow feigned.

Ignoring his comment, the quarter demon reiterated in a stern voice "Why are you here!"

"Che, don't get mad with me." the doppelganger stated. Pointing at the younger version of the zanpakutō spirit, he added "It was he that asked me here. Besides that point, King," the hollow drawled, "this world, your world, is my home. Both Zangetsu there and I are a part of you, so it's only natural that I live here too."

"Never mind him, Ichigo." Tensa Zangetsu said, earning him the attention of the orange haired quarter demon. "I asked you here for another reason."

Noting the quarter demon was giving him his full attention, the zanpakutō spirit pressed on in his usual calm voice. "Ichigo, it is time that you complete your training under me. To do so will unlock the last of my powers and grant you full control over them."

"But I warn you Ichigo, the road into obtaining all of my powers is not easy."

"With you, nothing has ever been easy." Ichigo stated with a light smirk on his face.

Not shaken by the response of his master, the spirit replied "Don't misunderstand, Ichigo. What you wish to protect is not what I wish to protect."

Gesturing towards the hollow, he added "You, come here."

"Don't get pushy." the doppelganger growled out. Earning himself a glare, the hollow stood and flashed to the side of the young spirit.

"Ichigo, to obtain my full power you must combat not just me but your hollow as well."

Noting the readiness of the quarter demon the spirit was quick to shake his head. "I do not mean you will face the two of us in combat. No, you will face a different entity. Remember, we were once one in the same and at the same time are pieces of your soul."

Catching a glance from the spirit and knowing what he was asking, the hollow let an indignant grunt out and muttered "Such a pain in the ass."

Not quite understanding what his mentor was up to, Ichigo let a surprised gasp out when he noticed his hollow glowing with black swirling aura. His eyes immediately widened as he gazed at the true form of his hollow who now wore his white outfit and had a black with white striped mask.

Standing side by side, the hollow and zanpakutō spirit threw a quick glance at one another, their eyes meeting only for a moment. All at once, the pair began dissolving into sparkling particles and swirled into one another to begin forming an entirely new being.

The new being was soon complete and inhaled deeply. His eyes were closed and his form seemed more of a mishmash of the previous two beings, but somewhat different at the same time. His hair was short like the zanpakutō spirit's had been, but was pure white. A portion of the black and white mask that had covered the doppelganger's face resided on the left side of his head, along with one of the pointed black horns. His clothing was more of a white tunic that had black fur on his wrists and around the collar, along with the fringe of the tunic. In his left hand was the quarter demon's normally black katana, but instead it was white with a black guard.

Opening his eyes at last, he revealed that one was a light blue color while the other had a black sclera and golden iris.

"Now the true test begins to determine if you are worthy of my complete power." the newly formed spirit declared.

000

000

Nearly seven days had passed since Ichigo had begun the battle with the new being that was composed of his hollow and zanpakutō spirit. It had been a nonstop fierce fight with him taking numerous wounds and shallow gashes. Several were still open and oozing out his crimson life force, yet he refused to stop the fight no matter how painful his injuries were or how tired he was.

At the same time, his black katana was nearing it's own limit and sported several scratches along it's blade, but most importantly it no longer was at full length. A foot long section of it had been cut off during an intense exchange between himself and his merged opponent. That alone was enough to limit his reach with his blade, but the fact that he was starting to feel the strain of fighting almost a week was beginning to take it's toll.

Heavily panting while blood ran down the side of his face, the quarter demon stared into the eyes of his opponent. Zooming across the battlefield, the pair slammed their respected blades into one another and grinded the steel swords into each other.

"_Why, why is it now that I sense only sadness and worry in his sword? When we crossed swords before, I never felt such things. But the longer we fight, the more it seems his worry and sadness continue to flow out._"

Pushed backwards, the quarter demon flashed away and evaded his foe's white katana that was attempting to pierce him. "_Why, why is it that I'm sensing nothing but sadness? He wanted me to complete this training, yet here we are and something is wrong._"

Eyes meeting, the orange haired warrior couldn't help but see the merged fighter look away as if he couldn't bear to even look at him. Flung away, he quickly came to realization of a fact.

"_He could have ended this whenever he pleased. So why, why won't he come at me like early on in the fight? The difference in our powers has been visible, yet he doesn't take advantage. Does that mean that to win, I need to..._"

Unable to finish the last thought as he ducked several sweeps of his opponent's white blade, the quarter demon retreated backwards and saw the white robbed spirit sprinting towards him. At the last moment and surprising his opponent, he dropped his broken black blade to the ground.

Not capable of slowing down or moving away, the spirit ran the quarter demon through. The white blade pierced through the orange haired man's body like it was nothing. Blood immediately splashed to the ground and soaked it in the crimson colored liquid.

Refusing to look his foe in the face, the white haired spirit whispered "You've realized it. The only way to acquire my full power is to accept my blade."

In a bit of shock since he was just run through and realizing he wasn't suffering, Ichigo commented "There's... no pain."

"Of course not. I, Tensa Zangetsu, am originally a portion of you. If you accept me, there can be no pain when I run you through."

Catching the scent of salt and hearing something drip to the ground, the quarter demon found it was tears leaking down from the spirit's eyes.

"Why... are you crying?"

"Ichigo, do you recall what I said when we began this fight?" the spirit questioned.

Thinking back to seven days earlier the words of the zanpakutō spirit rang throughout the quarter demon's mind.

"_Don't misunderstand, Ichigo. What you wish to protect is not what I wish to protect._"

"I do." the quarter demon answered without pause.

"What I wanted to protect was..." the spirit began as he looked up into the eyes of the one that wielded him, "... you, Ichigo."

Surprise crossed Ichigo's face and filled his eyes. Taking a moment to ponder over the meaning of the spirit's words, he asked "What do you mean?"

Releasing the hold on the hilt of his white blade, the spirit backed away slowly and said "You will soon understand. The answers are within my sword."

"Ichigo, if you use my full power, you will ..."

000

000

Returning his vision to straight ahead at his silver haired opponent and finding his transformation was over, the quarter demon dismissed his black aura. Revealed once more, he stepped forward a few steps.

His hair was slightly longer than previously now so that his bangs covered his eyes and ran down to the tip of his nose. As well, his chest and arms seemed more muscular than previously, but not to the point that he they were bulging. The black trench coat that had been destroyed reappeared around him with exception of the right sleeve missing up to his shoulder. His pants had also been restored, but his sandals remained gone, leaving him barefoot.

Glimmering in the minimal amount of light flooding the room was the black katana still in his hand, but in a different form. The guard on it had changed, with the spiral symbol now lengthened out. A hilt no longer existed, but instead a black glove like material covered his hand and melded the sword and his hand together into one entity. Running up midway to his elbow, the glove appeared to be almost metallic. From there, a black chain ran up the length of his arm to his shoulder, with the chain wrapped tightly around both. The end of the chain trailed down slightly from his shoulder and hung freely to just below the back of his knees.

Taking a few more steps forward, the quarter demon looked through his bangs at the surprised look on the hybrid demon's face. In a cool tone, he said "Sephiroth. Let's do this elsewhere. I don't want to fight here."

Regaining his composure quickly, Sephiroth arrogantly retorted "There is no need to worry, Ichigo Kurosaki. There will be no need to destroy ..."

Flashing across the room at a speed that the hybrid demon could barely follow, the quarter demon planted his left hand on the demon's face and shoved roughly. Still rocketing forward, he pushed his opponent straight through the stone wall of the keep and out into the sky.

000

000

Concentrating on healing Ryo still, Orihime's suddenly heard a loud crashing sound. She quickly spared a glance up to see two figures in black soaring through the air. Focusing on them, she noticed that one had silver hair, but the other more concerned her when she noticed he had lengthened orange hair.

"_Ichigo!_"

Unable to sense his aura, she started to panic but forced herself to calm down. "_He'll be fine. Ichgio promised he would not die. When he makes a promise, no matter what, he will fulfill it. I just have to trust in him._"

Returning her attention to the task at hand she poured out more healing energy into her technique.

000

000

Soaring through the air and still carrying his opponent with him, Ichigo at last found a suitable new battleground and flung his foe straight down into the clearing. Landing, he watched the dust and debris starting to settle and found his foe kneeling and cradling his face.

Getting to his feet quickly and knocking the dust off of himself, Sephiroth glared at the quarter bobcat demon. Eyeing him, he coolly stated "So you no longer have any demonic power. What a shame, Ichigo Kurosaki. Even your power has deserted you in the end."

"Don't get too excited. What you see is the full extent of my Bankai's power. The form you saw previously was the incomplete version of my Bankai, but now I am releasing one hundred percent of it's power. In this form, you'll learn quickly the difference between you and I."

Not fazed by the explanation of the quarter demon, the hybrid demon drew his lengthy blade up before himself. Walking forward with purpose behind his steps, he stated "You are foolish to challenge me, quarter breed."

Flashing away and leaving behind only a booming sound, the demon reappeared directly behind his opponent with blade in mid-swing. He was somewhat surprised to be parried by the black katana of his foe.

Again and again, the two clashed with the hybrid demon being the aggressor. Each attack was easily deflected and batted away as if nothing by his rival. Sparks flared from the clash of the two swords and steel rang out loudly, yet no attack managed to land a decisive blow or inflict damage to either.

"You don't seem to realize do you that I am not the same as before." Ichigo stated. "Before I was increasing my power using my hollow and zanpakutō. Now instead, my power is that of my hollow, zanpakutō, and my own powers combined. You're probably confused due that you can't sense my aura and think I'm weaker. That's not the case here."

Sneering, the demon remarked "It doesn't matter. I will still cut you down."

Charging forward blade drawn back, the hybrid demon swung horizontally for the head of the quarter demon with all of his strength.

Not bothering to raise his blade to defend himself and deciding to demonstrate his power the quarter demon reached out with his left hand and caught the elongated sword. His heels dug into the ground slightly from the feat, but nonetheless he stopped the attack.

"Impossible..." the mixed dog and angel demon murmured with his golden eyes wide. "_I used both hands yet he's holding me back._"

Releasing the sword caught in his grasp and watching his foe quickly pull back, the seemingly calm quarter demon asked "What's wrong? Are you so stunned that I caught your blade?"

Grinding his teeth together as he silver aura flared around his body, the hybrid demon roared "I wouldn't get so confident! Don't talk as if you've won! It was only an instance of you surprising me, nothing more. I will now end this battle once and for all! Perish trash!"

Crimson energy suddenly flooded over the elongated blade as he held the sword directly in front of himself. At the same instant, multiple meteors formed around his body like a protective shield.

"Cero Nova!"

Simultaneously, the flaming meteors shot forward along with the powerful wide crimson beam. The two swirled together, the flames and aura of the beam mixing together.

Drawing his black katana to his right side, Ichigo calmly swung the blade horizontally and declared "Getsuga Tenshō."

Flaring forth in a crescent moon shaped blade was the black and red patented attack of the quarter demon. The energy blade collided with the combo attack of the hybrid demon in a massive explosion. Pushing on one another, the two attacks struggled for dominance over the other to prove which had the most power.

Sneering due that his attack had pushed the quarter demon's counter attack back a bit, the demon's eyes suddenly widened. He spotted that several of the meteors were disintegrating into nothingness, along with the wide crimson energy beam.

All at once the combo attack petered out and vanished altogether. At the same time, the black and red blade of energy that seemed to still have great power left continued on it's pathway towards it's target. Without warning, the blade rose up into the air higher and then slammed into the ground thirty-four yards away from the hybrid demon.

"Has it sunk in yet?"

Shaking as his anger reached it's boiling point, the silver haired demon snarled out "No piece of trash can defeat me!"

Unaffected, Ichigo took several steps towards his foe and smoothly said "There is something you should know about this form: I can't maintain it for too long. At most, it has a limit of five minutes."

Coming to a stop and swinging his blade out to his right side before pointing it directly at the hybrid demon. Bracing his right arm with his left in his elbow, he added "Time to end this fight. Before I do, I'll show you my ultimate attack."

"This is the Final Getsuga Tenshō."

Unexpectedly, light blue demonic aura erupted from the quarter demon's body and rose into a tall towering inferno of demonic power. Thick black bolts of power rippled up with the light blue aura, giving the effect of an eruption of raw power.

Not sure what to think of the change in his foe, Sephiroth looked within the flames to notice the form of his opponent was starting to change. He could see it transforming slightly and taking on a new shape.

"What is that form!"

Slowly starting to clear up, the light blue with black bolts mixed in turned mostly black and exploded outwards. The aura soon faded to reveal black swirling energy surrounding the new form of the quarter demon.

Instead of his usual orange hair, his hair was now jet black and reached below his butt in length with some of his bangs shadowing his face. A series of black tattoos covered his left arm while halfway between his elbow and hand it was pure black. The twisting tattoos ran around his arm in streaks like the chain on his right arm had previously and stopped just past his shoulder. Covering most of his face up to his nose, making it look like a mask, and running down to just below his waist was a set of gray like bandages that seemed to be hardened. The very top of the mask had a set of two teeth like pieces. The bandages ran down his right arm as well, but from his elbow down was engulfed in the smoke like black aura. His pants appeared to have the same look to them and were cut off just below his calves. From there down, similar gray bandages covered his legs and wrapped around the arches of his feet. Strangely, his pants appeared to be like an aura rather than cloth and wavered back and forth like his hair and the other parts covered with the black aura.

Raising his head after a moment, the transformed quarter demon revealed his eyes were no longer their usual brown color, but had a copper like color to them.

"The Final Getsuga Tenshō is... me... becoming Getsuga itself." Ichigo calmly explained. "The Final Getsuga Tenshō... if I use this technique, I will lose all of my demonic powers temporarily and shorten my lifespan. No matter the opponent, this technique will destroy an opponent. That is what 'Final' means."

Glaring fiercely at the transformed state of the quarter demon, the hybrid demon grit his teeth and angrily yelled "Impossible! I will not be killed by a piece of trash!"

Raising his right hand and holding it to his right side, he opened it and a thin blade of black energy formed. Grasping it, he drew his arm up over his head.

Slicing downwards with the attack he coolly declared "Mugetsu."

Black demonic energy veiled the entire area, blotting out the existence of both fighters. The energy soon erupted upwards into the sky and left behind only a fifty foot scar like wound on the land.

Taking several steps forward towards where a massive blotch of blood covered the land, the transformed quarter demon came to a stop with a sad like look in his eyes.

Without warning, the bandage like mask that covered his face started cracking. It soon fell apart and revealed his mouth and nose to the world once more. The destruction of the bandages didn't stop there, for it traveled down his chest but remained on his right arm. Chest exposed again, it was revealed that similar black swirling tattoos covered it.

Staring at the blood stained ground silently, Ichigo softly said "Sorry, but I couldn't let you leave here alive."

A gentle breeze kicked up and shifted his hair and the black pants he wore momentarily. All at once, his hair reverted to it's orange color and then the longer length of it fell out. With it gone, his body glowed with a black aura for only a moment. When it vanished, his original black kimono top and pants returned. The remainder of the gray bandages evaporated away in a black misty smoke. Beside him, a pool of black aura formed the large cleaver blade wrapped in it's white cloth from the hilt.

Letting out a strangled gasp he fell onto his knees and then his hands. "Shit, my demonic powers are disappearing..."

"_Ichigo, if you use this form, you will lose your demonic powers for at least ten days. Each use shortens your lifespan. Please Ichigo, do not constantly use it. It is for this reason I did not want to teach this to you, yet I knew you should have access to this power regardless of my feelings. Ichigo, I want you to live._"

The words of Tensa Zangetsu rang throughout his mind while he felt his body weakening even further. Feeling the last of his demonic powers fleeing his body quivered and he fell face first the remainder of the way onto the ground.

Trying best he could to bear the pain and get back up, he realized that his body felt too heavy and he couldn't move an inch. All of his muscles trembled as he laid there and slowly began losing consciousness.

In his mind, the last thing he saw as his mind faded to black was an image of his mate with a worried look on her face.

"_I kept my promise to stay alive. Don't worry Orihime, I'm still here._"

Eyes sliding shut, he no longer was able to keep awake and allowed the darkness to overwhelm him at long last. The cleaver blade beside of him instantly was engulfed in a black with red streaked aura. Gradually, the aura faded to reveal a long sword in a brown sheath and had a red wrapped hilt and two small strings hanging off the end of it.

000

000

"Ichigo..." Orihime whispered to herself in disbelief. "_What's going on! His aura vanished earlier when it was getting stronger. I saw him flying away with that demon in tow, but now his aura has returned. The most troubling part about it returning is it's gotten weaker and weaker to the point it's completely vanished. Just what the hell is happening?_"

Focusing in on her mate's faint aura, she felt fear creeping into her mind. "_Is he dead or dying out there?_"

"_No, that's not it. If he was dead, I'd be dead also since we are connected together by our markings. But I'm still worried. Something happened to where he has lost all of his demonic energy to the point I can just barely sense him._"

Broken from her thoughts she saw Shinji come sliding within a few feet of her. He was sporting a nasty cut on his right cheek and had blood running down the side of his forehead. An annoyed look was framing his face as he growled lowly.

Throwing a glance over at the bobcat mage, the lion hanyou gruffly asked "Aren't you done with Ryo yet Orihime?"

"Almost. Just another minute and he'll be fixed up." the demoness confirmed.

"Good, cause we need your help."

Rejoining the fight, the lion hanyou watched as his partner, Hiyori, was still engaging the six armed demon with all her might. The battle hanyou had her zanpakutō released in it's Shikai form, but it seemed to be doing very little to help her.

Skidding backwards away just as one of the six blades that her opponent wielded slashed where she had stood, the hanyou noted she was joined once more by the lion hanyou.

"What took you so long dumbass?"

"Sheesh, don't get so bent out of shape." Shinji retorted nonchalantly.

A vein popped out somewhat as Hiyori yelled "That lame ass attitude of yours is why we haven't gotten anywhere with this guy!"

"Now, now you two, we must keep calm." Hachi chimed in from behind the two.

"Keep out of it Hachi!" the hanyou snarled. Attitude drastically changing, she calmly asked the lion hanyou "Are you ready yet?"

Keeping his eyes trained on the six armed demon, the lion hanyou remarked "Yeah, anytime now is good for me. How about you Hachi?"

"I'm ready as always." the large pink haired hanyou announced.

"You three ready to fight for real?" Nnoitra questioned with irritation dripping in his voice. "I'm really tired of fighting you three in your half ass attempt. Hell, when you showed up, I thought maybe I'd get a real fight, but so far you three have just kept alive long enough to piss me off."

Smirking as he took a step forward, the lion hanyou replied "If you think we were holding back, well, you were right. Getting here to this battle, we had to use up a lot of power, but we're now rested enough to take you on at full force. Let's show him why he shouldn't misjudge us."

Mirroring one another, Shinji and Hiyori raised her left hands up in a clawed like pose and dragged it down in front of their faces. Each of them dawned a white bone like mask. Simultaneously, Hachi raised both arms and dragged both hands over his face to produce his own mask.

Sensing the power levels of the three hanyou's rising quickly, the six armed demon smirked as he moved into a ready stance. "You three have been holding back. Heh, maybe this will be fun after all."

"We'll see about that one." Shinji responded in an echoed voice that sounded as if it had another person's voice mixed in. "Hachi, you know what to do."

Nodding his head, the large pink haired demon raised his right hand and clenched it into a fist as he calmly declared "Bakudō 63: Sajo Sabaku."

Forming instantly near the right side of the six armed demon was a golden energy chain like rope that immediately wrapped around his body. The rope effectively caught all of his arms and forced them to his sides. Upon doing so, the rope became increasingly tight to the point that some of his bones popped from the pressure.

Rushing forward, blades drawn and poised to strike, the pair of hanyous soon reached their target and noticed he was fighting to free himself. Taking no chances, the lion hanyou drew his sword up over his head and slashed downwards with all the force he could muster. The attack took one of the six arms off and did minor damage to the golden energy chain that held the demon in place, but not nearly enough to free him.

Taking to the air and coming down with her serrated sword over her head, the masked battle hanyou came downwards quickly as she screamed loudly. The blade started cutting into the right shoulder of the six armed demon before he suddenly broke free and backed away.

Glancing at his missing arm, the demon grunted out "Che, you bastards managed to take off an arm."

"We'll take more than that the next time." Hiyori boasted.

Sneering at the pair as he tested his remaining five arms, Nnoitra retorted "As if you'll have another chance. Let me share something with you three. That arm you took isn't really a victory. The reason is simple."

Without warning, the stub that had once been the six armed demon's sixth arm glowed with a sickly yellow aura. Instantly, a new bone like arm sprouted from the stub with a bit of blood leaking off of it and dripping to the ground.

"Instantaneous regeneration?" Hachi stated in shock.

"Oh, so you know what it is there big man." the six armed demon commented. Stepping forward to where his discarded arm was, the demon reached down with his empty hand and picked up the scythe laying there. "That's right, I used instantaneous regeneration to grow my arm back. Not many demons are capable of learning such a thing, but then again, I'm not your average demon, now am I? Sure, I look more like the type that uses nothing but brute force, however, I do have a brain and know that such an ability is quite useful."

"Now then, where were we?"

Crouching into an attack position, the pair of hanyous readied their weapons. They were caught off guard when the demon charged them at near blinding speed and swept his scythes out to decapitate each.

Ducking the attack, the battle hanyou was shocked when she found herself face to face with the six armed demon. Instinctively raising her serrated zanpakutō, Hiyori blocked a scythe aimed to split her in half and flashed away to get some breathing room. She wasn't left alone for too long as her opponent appeared directly in front of her several feet away with black and yellow energy swirling at the tip of his tongue. Catching sight of said energy, her eyes widened as she knew what was coming.

"Dodge this bitch!"

Flashing forward at speed greater than the hanyou could move at, a massive yellow and black swirling Cero beam closed the distance on her almost immediately.

"Bakudō 81: Danku."

Materializing in front of the surprised battle hanyou was a large rectangular transparent barrier. The barrier formed quickly enough to absorb the impact of the Cero and managed to stave it off before shattering.

"Good assist Hachi!" Shinji called as he raced towards his opponent.

Put off a bit by the fact his attack was blocked and now being attacked from behind, the six armed demon parried the incoming attack. Spinning around to confront his foe he found the lion hanyou was attacking again with a series of high speed moves.

With each strike Shinji could feel the irritation of his opponent rising. Suddenly backing away, he raised his zanpakutō in front of himself horizontally and sent crimson energy out to coat the steel blade. Sensing his battle hanyou partner gathering energy herself to fire off her own Cero, he tried to hold back the power growing on his blade until he was certain she was ready.

As one, the pair of hanyou fired their crimson energy Ceros. The twin attacks melded together and whirled towards their opponent.

"As if that can stop me!" Nnoitra declared as he prepared to fire his own Cero. Suddenly finding himself unable to move, he glanced down to notice he was now wrapped in a twin set of orange energy ribbons that ran back to the index fingers of the pink haired hanyou. "You bastard..."

Unfazed, Hachi coolly stated "Bakudō 9: Hōrin."

The six armed demon struggled to free himself only to find that the energy ribbons were stronger than he had first imagined. With the swirling attack only a few yards away, he poured out more power and broke free of the ribbons at long last. He quickly swung his scythes into placed and cleaved the beam in half, sending the cascading energy into the surrounding area.

Appearing to each side of the large hanyou, both the lion and battle hanyous lightly panted as they surveyed the damage.

"Damn, he's just so overpowering." Shinji dejectedly commented.

Visibly agitated but refusing to admit the lion hanyou was right, Hiyori grunted out "If you would fight seriously we could win this fight in a minute's time."

Fighting the urge to roll his eyes the lion hanyou remarked "I told you, I don't like using my Shikai unless I absolutely have to. It's dangerous to let the world know what your zanpakutō's true power is. Besides, I don't need Sakanade to beat this clown."

"Then beat him already!" the battle hanyou roared to the point that both the lion and pink haired hanyous cringed from the full height of her voice.

"Keep it down. I'd like to be able to hear when I'm a bit older." the lion hanyou muttered. His response was promptly met by the reply of the battle hanyou's sandal covered foot in his face.

"Shut up dumbass!"

Sweat dropping at the scene and trying to hold back a snicker, Nnoitra stated "You two are pure gold when it comes to comedy."

Throwing a dirty glare at the demon, the battle hanyou snarled out "Shut your face before I do it for you dickhead!"

"I think I'll begin with killing you first."

Crossing the distance separating the battle hanyou and himself in a single flash, the six armed demon sneered down at the hanyou as he swung three of his scythes down at her body. Before he could an orange demonic barrier started forming, but instead of taking it's normal triangular shape, it took on a pyramid like form with a fourth arrowhead taking up residence in the center of the shield.

"No more. Shiten Kōshun, I reject, I reject!"

Weapons smashing against the pyramid like barrier, the six armed demon glanced over at the owner of the voice, knowing full well it belonged to the bobcat mage. What he wasn't expecting and was caught off guard by was an explosion upon impact with the barrier that sent him flying backwards and smashing into several trees.

On his feet again and back into the clearly with a visibly angry look on his face, Nnoitra snarled out "You again, huh whore!"

Unfazed by his insult, Orihime lowly said but slowly raised her voice "No more... NO MORE!"

"I've tried to be reasonable, yet you don't care. Taking away a person's life is something that should never be allowed. However, you are ruthless and show no shred of decency or mercy."

Fisting her hands as she spoke, she added "That's why it has to end like this. You'll have to learn the hard way and know what it is like to have your life taken away against your will. It's wrong!"

Chuckling at her words Nnoitra balked back "You'll take my life away? Oh please, my little whore, you couldn't stop me if you wanted to. Obviously you're far too weak to carry out such a threat against me."

Saying nothing as her orange demonic aura flared out and sent her hair whipping about her body, the bobcat mage drew her zanpakutō out of it's sheath and raised it up in front of her body so that it was diagonally in front of her. The orange aura flared up the length of the blade and coated it so that it's power seemed to radiate off of it like a flame.

Shooting forward at speed the demon thought she didn't have, she held out her left hand and palm turned towards him as light blue energy flared within it.

Concentrating a bit she yelled "Hadō 33: **Sōkatsui!"**

**Flashing forward and hitting the demon head on was a wave of light blue energy. The energy smashed into his body and made him skid backwards a few feet, but did minor damage and left nothing but wispy smoke in it's wake on his skin. He was shocked when he looked up to see three more waves racing towards him. Each scored a direct hit with all three seemingly aimed for his chest.**

**Reaching the demon and taking advantage of the distraction she had made via her wave attacks she quickly slipped in behind him. Swinging her sword downwards with all her strength she slashed off two of his arms before quickly retreating as he whipped around with three of his scythes.**

**"Not bad whore." Nnoitra commented. Examining the bloody stumps for a moment, he sneered and stated "You cut off two of my arms. I'll make sure you pay for that."**

Paying no heed to his words as she silently stood still, the demoness slowly started chanting in a low tone. "Ye lord! Mask of blood and flesh, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! On the wall of blue flame, inscribe a twin lotus. In the abyss of conflagration, wait at the far heavens."

"Hadō 73: Sōren Sōkatsui!"

Flashing forward in a blinding light was a set of two light blue energy waves that were far stronger than the earlier ones that had hit the six armed demon. The twin waves smashed into him with bone crushing power.

The demon stood his ground but quickly found his skin was starting to be burned by the intensity and power of the massive waves. Unwilling to stand down, he struggled to push back the twin waves. His massive scythes tried cleaving through them but were doing nothing more than holding back the attack at best.

Exploding suddenly, the maimed demon was engulfed in the blast and completely hidden from view of the fighters.

Panting slightly as she stared at the explosion with hardened gray eyes, Orihime inhaled deeply and dismissed her orange aura. Not lowering her guard she kept scanning the area for her opponent, knowing that he would sooner or later return to the battlefield.

She wasn't wrong as the blast soon subsided to reveal a shaky standing black haired demon that was gritting his teeth and missing three more arms, two on one side and one on the other. One horn on his head was gone also, along with a great deal of his top and pants. A portion of his hair was burned away and one pointed boot was missing the point on the end of it.

"Damn you..." he ground out. "Damn you... Damn you..."

"DAMN YOU! YOU FUCKING WHORE, I'LL KILL YOU!"

Unexpectedly Nnoitra's yellow aura flared to life around his body. All of his wounds began glowing with a similar color.

"_Such monstrous power. At this rate I won't be able to keep up with him. He seems to have a massive reservoir of power while mine is definitely finite._" the demoness mused.

Eyes fluttering shut, the mage's mind kicked into overdrive to find a solution to her current predicament.

"_Level fifty and below Kidō seem to be pointless against his Hierro. The sixties level spells seem to do some damage, but not nearly as much as the seventies. However, using such high level spells is taxing and I've had to use incantations just to get those spells strong enough to inflict some serious damage. I think that even higher level spells would be enough to finish him off, but therein lies the problem._"

"_The higher the level spell, the more power I need to use to get it off and plus anything over level eighty I have to use an incantation. A level nineties spell would end this fight._"

Opening her eyes and seeing the demon was still slowly recovering his lost limbs and healing the minor burns on his body, she narrowed her eyes. "_To use a level ninety spell, I would have to have him remain completely still while I chanted the incantation. Not an easy task. Using that much power to bind him and then blast him would drain me completely. Right now there is no way I can do both._"

"Lady Orihime, are you alright?"

Tearing her gaze away from her opponent to glance to her right the demoness found the familiar face of the large pink haired demon. Irked by the use of formality towards her, she grit out "I'm fine Hachi, but please don't be so formal."

Smiling softly at her as he turned his own gaze towards the healing six armed demon, Hachi smoothly replied "My apologies. Old habits are hard to break."

"So, any ideas on how to beat him?" Shinji asked as he flashed up to the mage's other side.

Seeing the mage shake her head Hiyori grunted out "He's such a pain in the ass. Shinji, just finish him with your zanpakutō."

"Hiyori, for the last time, I'm not releasing Sakanade. Even if I did, I couldn't beat him still yet due to his..."

"Hierro." the mage finished.

Mutely nodding in reply, the lion hanyou glanced at the three remaining members of the group for a moment before turning his attention to their opponent.

"He's nearly healed." he commented.

Sheathing her sword and taking a few steps forward, the mage softly said "I think I know how we can end this once and for all, but we need to work together to do so."

The group of three hanyous glanced from one another and each nodded. Seeing this as she looked over her shoulder Orihime smiled and turned to face them, saying "Here is what we'll do."


	22. Chapter 22: Arrogance

**Hello once more everybody! Hmm, let's see, to begin with, the last few weeks have been ultra stressful, not to mention it has been exceedingly hot. Curse the dome of heat over the eastern U.S.! Anyways, work is majorly busy and keeping me seriously stressed. I'm dealing with it, but it's starting to wear on me. Not to mention there is plenty going on at home to keep me busy, though the last evening things were somewhat more calm. Not to mention the realization of the issues that arise from owning a home are starting to hit me hard, but oh well.**

**Writing wise, it's slowed to a crawl. I'm hopeful to pick back up in the next week or so, but it's questionable at the moment. At any rate, never fear, I will do my best to keep up.**

**Thanks to auronsword and Kattana for your reviews. I really appreciate them. It's your two's reviews that keep me motivated in writing. Thanks once more.**

**Well, that wraps things up for me. See you all in two weeks. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 22**

"We've almost reached him."

"Yeah, I can feel it."

Walking side by side down a long hallway that led towards the backend of the Eastern Castle, a neko hanyou and ice demoness quietly moved towards where they felt the presence of the Eastern Lord.

"Scared?"

"I would be lying if I said I wasn't." Lilly confirmed. "You?"

Unchanged the demoness replied "It goes without saying that I'm anxious."

Reaching out and taking hold of her sister-in-law's hand, the neko said "Together we can win this fight. Remember our promise."

Receiving a nod, the hanyou continued to keep pace with the demoness. Both their senses suddenly detected someone waiting in the hallway and put the pair on edge.

Standing in the hallway was a beautiful looking young woman that had calf long blonde hair with red mixed into it. Her eyes were a mixture of emerald and gold, giving them a strange but alluring look. She was petit in body size, having a large chest and many curves that seemed to accent her. As well, there was a very certain air about her that gave off the fact that she was special in some way. A form fitting yellow silk kimono hugged tightly against her body and revealed a good bit of cleavage. Long sleeves trailed down from her kimono and reached to her feet in length. On her left hip sat a sheathed sword that had a red wrapped hilt and rectangular guard, along with a black sheath.

"You two dare to invade my future mate's home." the woman growled with anger visibly filling her expression.

Undeterred by the fact the hallway was blocked and not willing to back down, Lilly spoke in a calm voice, saying "Step aside. There is no need for the three of us to fight. Lord Sasuke must answer for what he has done to Japan."

Quickly drawing her sword and sliding back into a ready stance was the answer of the blonde and red haired woman. "I will not stand by and allow you to reach my future mate. Lord Sasuke will rule this country and I shall become his queen. I won't let two whores like you even try to approach him."

Irked by the ignorance of the young woman, Yoshe started to speak up but was cut off as Lilly moved forward.

"We don't have time for your stupidity. Step aside." the neko coldly declared.

Sneering at the hanyou the woman remarked "I won't be talked down to by a half breed piece of trash. I know of you, Lilly Taisho. You are the one that mated that traitor's father."

Puzzled by the words of the young woman the neko asked "Who are you, and what traitor are you talking about?"

"You are as ignorant as you are ugly." the woman stated. "I am Chikako Senju, future queen of Japan. As for the traitor I speak of, I mention that other worthless half breed Yukio Kuchiki."

"Ah, so you're Chikako." Lilly mused. "He was right, you're nothing but an annoying bitch."

Visibly angered further, the three-quarters demon swiped her left hand over her blade and snarled out "Howl Zabimaru!"

The sword in the blonde haired woman's hand instantly coated itself in a sickly red aura. The length of the blade lengthened before transforming into a serrated like blade with several sections and teeth in it and a large fang like blade at the end.

"NOW PERISH!"

Swinging her blade wide she whipped it in the direction of the hanyou causing the sectioned blades to fly towards her. The sections were joined together by a material that stretched and seemed to give her control of her weapon while at the same time enough to allow it to maneuver about.

Both Yoshe and Lilly flashed out of the way of the whip like sword with each landing on the opposite side of the hallway. Realizing the whip like sword was now coming towards her, the neko vanished just as the fang like tip struck where she had been standing. Once more, the whip like sword attempted to hit her just as she reappeared, but once more the neko dodged the attack with her agility.

"Coward, stop dodging!" Chikako screamed while she drew her sword back so that the segments once more formed the serrated blade.

Moving back to the center of the hallway with her hands clenched and staring evenly at the three-quarters demon, Lilly calmly said "I have no intentions on fighting with you Chikako. My business is with the Lord of the Eastern Lands, not his concubine."

In blind rage the blonde and red haired buxom shot her sword forward in a straight line to split the neko in half. She was angered even more when the neko effortlessly sidestepped the attack to let the segment blades to fly right by. Jerking on the hilt the blonde and red haired three-quarters demon attempted to catch her opponent off guard with the blades returning, only to watch as the neko leapt over the retracting sword.

"You bitch, I'll kill you!" Chikako roared.

"It's funny you call me a bitch when in fact you are part dog demon. After all, that is what dog demon's refer to their women as." Lilly mocked.

Enraged further, the buxom shot her sword forward at the neko. Not moving, the neko remained still and raised one hand up to point at the incoming attack.

In a bored tone, she said "Bakudō 8: Seki."

Forming in the black haired neko hanyou's palm was a blue energy sphere that was no more than a four inches in diameter. The segmented sword slammed into the sphere and seemed to struggle against it momentarily before being shot up straight into the ceiling.

Yanking on her sword to retract it, the three-quarters demon found she couldn't. Examining where the blade was lodged, she realized that the tip of the blade had dug in deeply. Throwing a glare in the direction of her opponent, she suddenly gasped aloud when she realized that the neko hanyou was no longer standing where she previously had been seen.

"It's over."

Those were the last words the buxom heard before everything went dark due to a blow to the back of the neck. Collapsing to the ground, she saw the feet of the neko before completely passing out while her zanpakutō returned to it's normal form and rattled to the ground.

Stepping over to the dropped sword and drawing her own, the hanyou stabbed her blade through the fallen zanpakutō. The blade easily pierced through the sword on the ground and sent a few shards of steel scattering about the ground.

"That was a bit cruel." Yoshe commented as she walked up and surveyed the destroyed zanpakutō and the unconscious young woman.

Throwing a quick glance at the unconscious form of Chikako, the neko replied "I didn't want her waking up and coming after us."

"Besides, I didn't want to use any spells on her due that I needed to conserve power for our upcoming fight. In the end, I decided I had no choice but use a low level spell and just knock her out."

"It was the most humane way." the ice demoness commented.

"I suppose." Lilly retorted while sheathing her sword. Looking down the hallway in the direction they had been traveling, she added "Let's continue on. After all, we can't keep Lord Sasuke waiting for too long."

"Agreed."

000

000

"The three of you know what to do?" Orihime questioned as she glanced among the three hanyous in front of her.

Nodding his head in agreement, Hachi softly replied "I do Orihime. I will bind him best I can, but are you certain you can pull off your part?"

Replying with a nod of her own, the demoness said "I'm sure I can Hachi. Don't worry, I won't let you down."

"You better do your part." Hiyori grumbled. "After all, Shinji and I are the ones that will be closest and be putting our lives on the line until Hachi gets his act together."

"Sheesh Hiyori, you couldn't have a little faith in her?" Shinji muttered.

Kindly smiling at the battle hanyou who started scowling at her smile, the mage remarked "I promise that I'll be mindful of you two and try to hurry things along."

"And there you have it, idiot." the lion hanyou stated.

Growling lowly the battle hanyou suddenly took her sandal off her foot and smacked her blonde haired comrade in the face with it repeatedly. "Shut up dumbass!"

Sweat dropping at the pair, the mage and pink haired hanyou suddenly threw their vision towards their six armed opponent. Finding he was at last releasing his intense yellow aura, all four focused on him.

"He's done healing." Shinji commented. "And I can tell he has power to spare."

"Just make sure you don't screw this up." Hiyori stated. "Let's go."

Noting a nod from the lion hanyou, both raised their hands and drew their masks back on over their faces. Charging forward with loud battle roars, they had their weapons at the ready to reenter the battle.

Sneering at the incoming pair of masked hanyous, Nnoitra smugly said "Coming back for more, eh? I think it's high time I finished you two off!"

Drawing up his scythes quickly he blocked both swords with a scythe each. Holding them back, the demon smirked and commenced to swinging at the pair with another scythe each. Opening his mouth, he revealed that at the tip of his tongue a yellow and black sphere of energy was formed and nearly ready to fire.

Both sets of eyes widening at this, the pair of hanyous broke off their attack and quickly charged their own crimson Ceros. Just as they had finished, their opponent launched his and forced the pair to release their own. The twin crimson beams melded together and slammed hard into the yellow and black swirling beam. Pressing against one another, the two attacks fought for dominance with the yellow and black attack seemingly stronger.

Nnoitra only sneered on as he watched his attack starting to overtake his opponents. All at once, he found himself sent skidding backwards into the tree line by a set of well placed kicks from both hanyous.

"Why you little ..."

"Bakudō 37: Tsuriboshi."

Flying behind the six armed demon was a ball of blue energy that suddenly expanded and fired six energy ropes out and secured to a trunk of six different trees. The ball then expanded into a large cushion like figure that was stretched out by the energy ropes.

Backing into the blanket, the six armed demon found himself being pressed into a corner. "I see, you think you have me trapped, right? No pathetic spell like this will hold me!"

Stepping forward to reveal it was he that had fired the attack was Hachi. "Then let us see how many spells it takes to hold you. Bakudō 61: Rikujōkōrō."

Six blades of golden energy beams formed a circle around the six armed demon before suddenly plunging into him around his midsection. The beams held him firmly in place and seemed to meld to the massive cushion that he was pressed back against.

"Bakudō 62: Hyapporankan."

Upon speaking the spell name, a violet colored hexagon rod formed within the pink haired hanyou's hand. Raising it up, he threw it like a javelin at the pinned down six armed demon. On target and on it's way, the rod suddenly replicated itself into nearly a hundred different rods and rained down on his position. Using the blanket of energy behind the demon, the rods embedded themselves into it to help hold the demon in place.

Reaching out with his right hand again, he opened the hand and then squeezed it shut as he declared "Bakudō 63: Sajo Sabaku."

Forming out of thin air was a thick looking golden energy rope that could almost pass for a chain suddenly began wrapping around the six armed demon. Once around him, it squeezed tightly and started winding itself even more so.

"Bakudō 73: Tozanshō."

Light blue energy formed in one focal point near the demon's feet shot upwards at the same angle to form four beams of light. The beams stopped once they had cleared his head and started connecting to one another to form a flat surface. In between the beams light blue energy formed to make a pyramid shaped barrier.

"Bakudō 79: **Kuyō Shibari."**

**Suddenly appearing out of thin air were eight black holes with purple outlining each that surrounded Nnoitra. A ninth formed without warning in the center of his chest, seemingly restricting his movements even further.**

**Panting heavily as he stared at the six armed demon, Hachi yelled out "It is done Orihime! Go!"**

**Confused by the declaration of the pink haired hanyou, Nnoitra suddenly realized that the demoness was some distance away with her left hand extended towards him and saw that she was beginning to softly chant.**

**"**Limit of the thousands hands, respectful hands, unable to touch the darkness. Shooting hands unable to reflect the blue sky. The road that basks in light, the ..."

Without warning, ten spears of pink glowing light that were five foot or greater in length appeared around the demoness. Each looked like a burning comet ready to blast off.

"... wind that ignited the embers, time that gathers when both are together, there is no need to be hesitant, obey my orders. Light bullets, eight bodies, nine items, book of heaven, diseased treasure, great wheel, grey fortress tower. Aim far away, scatter brightly and cleanly when fired."

Deducing that long incantation meant a more powerful spell than he had previously seen, the six armed demon began struggling against his bindings as his yellow demonic aura flared to life.

"Like I'll let you hit me!"

"It's too late!" Orihime promptly declared as the bolts of energy surrounding her glowed even more brilliantly. "Hadō 91: **Senjū Kōten Taihō!"**

Rocketing forward across the battlefield towards the target, the ten bolts of pink energy found nothing in their way as they reached the light blue barrier courtesy of the pink haired hanyou that released his spell the instant the demoness had launched them.

Having only a split second of freedom Nnoitra found he couldn't move at all. All ten bolts scored a direct hit in the center of his body and exploded upon impacting him. The resulting explosion created a massive cross like shape that gave off a blinding pink energy. Beneath the feet of all the participants of the battle, the ground shuttered from the explosion and sent debris flying throughout the area.

Slowly, bit by bit, the explosion shrank back to reveal the carnage the attack had delivered. A massive crater was dug out from the intense blast that was over forty feet in depth and covered about as much in length. Trees that had been near the explosion were reduced to ash and even over a hundred yards away many had no leaves within them and their trunks were scorched black.

Staring at the destruction with mouths agape, the three hanyous couldn't find words to describe what they had just seen.

Panting heavily as she surveyed the damage to the forest, Orihime tried desperately to catch her breath. She was leaning forward with her hands resting on her knees to brace herself while sweat poured down the sides of her face.

The mage's head suddenly shot up with fear creeping into her eyes. "No, it can't be..."

Unsure of what she spoke of the three took in the remainder of dust and smoke where the previous spell had hit and noticed that something was moving within it. Bit by bit, the dust settled to reveal that the six armed demon still stood in the same spot he had previously. The devastating effects of the spell were evident on his body.

All but one arm remained on the demon's body while one leg was ripped down to the bone with blood pouring to the ground. Both of his sides had significant damage and chunks of flesh were missing so that his ribs were visible on the outside of his body. All of his hair was gone and a majority of his body was raw.

Opening his eye to reveal the rage boiling within the violet iris, he coughed weakly and spat up a pool of blood onto the ground. In a fit of rage, Nnoitra screamed "YOU WHORE! IT'S OVER FOR YOU NOW!"

Charging forward at blinding speed he was only four feet away from the mage when he suddenly came to a screeching stop and doubled over in pain. Erupting from his chest was an orange glowing barrier that had a blade like shape.

"WHAT THE HELL HAVE YOU DONE TO ME BITCH!"

Still panting hard as she straightened her form up to her full height, Orihime inhaled deeply and at last slowed her breathing to a decent level. Staring straight into his angered violet eye with her own calm gray ones, she smoothly said "I knew you would survive that attack."

"You knew!" Nnoitra exclaimed.

Nodding her head slightly, the demoness declared "It was obvious to me that you would more than likely survive a level ninety Kidō spell. Your Hierro is so thick and you have a considerably large amount of demonic energy also, giving you a doubly efficient defense. With those factors in mind, I knew I'd have to come up with a plan on how to defeat you."

"That's why I hid a secondary attack within my **Senjū Kōten Taihō. It was primarily meant to deal you damage and open up a deep wound so I could fire off my true attack. That true attack was one I tried to use on you earlier."**

**Reaching up and pointing at one of her snowflake hairpins, she revealed that one was incomplete and missing a section. This made the powerful demon frown at the fact but not before trembling from the pain that was racking his body.**

**"Notice anything different?" the mage questioned. Not giving much time for an answer to reply she added "If you had been paying attention all battle, you'd notice that my powers to put up barriers and heal come from these hairpins. That power is called Shun Shun Rikka. Whenever using it, a portion of my hairpins split off to form small fairies that perform one of four attacks that I use. I currently have one piece of my hairpin missing, signifying that Tsubaki is currently in use."**

**Gesturing towards the orange energy barrier like blade sticking out the demon's chest as she continued on, she said "Earlier in the battle, I used Tsubaki and attempted to attack you with **Koten Zanshun. Instead of hurting you it merely glanced off your cheek. Since then, I've only used my Shun Shun Rikka's defensive and healing capabilities."

Smiling slightly, she added "Well, that was until I used **Senjū Kōten Taihō. When I fired it, I snuck Tsubaki in with the attack. His job was clear: find a deep wound and enter into your body to destroy it from the inside. That is what that orange barrier blade is."**

**"You mean that thing is inside of me!" Nnoitra roared. Looking down and growling lowly as he reached towards the blade, he snarled out "I'll rip it out before you have a chance to ..."**

**"It's useless." Orihime stated coldly. "I do not like to kill anyone. Instead, I wish to find solutions to battles that are more diplomatic."**

**Lowering her face so that her bangs shadowed her eyes as she spoke, she added "You however cannot be allowed to live. It's clear you have no intentions of changing your ways and only wish to kill those that I care about. Because of that, I cannot allow you to live any longer. This is the end for you."**

**Raising her eyes out of the shadows to reveal determination and resolve within her gray eyes, the mage calmly declared "**Koten Zanshun, I reject, I reject."

The orange barrier sticking out of the six armed demon's chest flared to life and glowed even more brilliantly than previously. Without warning, the barrier increased in size and sprouted out of his back and even more so out his chest. Blood splattered to the ground from the protrusion and filled the air with it's thickly coppery scent. Shooting upwards, the barrier sliced through the insides and outsides of the demon and erupted from his head. The shocked expression of pain seemed frozen on his face as his tattered and destroyed body fell to the ground with the top part being peeled open like a banana.

Returning to it's master, the arrowhead reverted back into it's previously used form as a piece of the bobcat mage's hairpin. Turning away from the bloody mess that was formerly her opponent, she moved several feet towards the others before falling to one knee and heavily panting.

"Orihime!" Hachi yelled as he moved to her side. "Are you alright?"

Weakly smiling as her breathing started to slowly level out, the mage managed to get out "I think so. I just overdid things a bit with that level ninety-one Kidō and then using Tsubaki afterwards."

Understanding the meaning to her words, the pink haired hanyou shifted slightly and asked "I am curious, who taught you how to use **Senjū Kōten Taihō? More importantly, when did you learn such a powerful technique? I know for certain it is a difficult spell to learn."**

Slow to rise, the demoness inhaled deeply before a small smile appeared on her face. "The person that taught me to use **Senjū Kōten Taihō was the Lady of the Western Lands, Yoshe Taisho. She's an ice demoness that was trained in the art of **Kidō when she used to live in the ice demon clan's homelands."

"Ah, so she is the one he taught." the burly demon stated. Finding his apprentice confused, he smiled and added "My own master, Tessai Tsukabishi, traveled to the home of the ice demon clans some time ago. Before he left, he made mention to me where he was going and that he had someone there that required his training."

"Oh, so he trained Yoshe who in turn helped train me a bit. That's interesting." Orihime commented with a smile. "Anyways, while I was living at the Western Stronghold and waiting to move out for the final battles, she took it upon herself to teach me to use **Senjū Kōten Taihō. It was difficult and took a lot of practice, but in the end, I managed to finally use the spell."**

**Nodding his head and flashing a quick smile, Hachi replied with pride mixed in his voice "I am proud of how strong you have become. You have become quite a powerful **Kidō master."

"I'm a long way from being perfect or at the level I want to be at." the demoness remarked. "I still have so much to learn, but at least I'm getting closer bit by bit. I'm hoping to learn more about Kidō from you if you'll still have me."

"Of course, Orihime."

"We'd better check on the injured and make sure no one else tried to attack them." Ryo stated as he approached the group.

Each of the four nodded their heads, with the bobcat mage saying "You're right Ryo, let's go find May and the injured."

000

000

**"At last, the roof!" Iya declared with some relief in his voice.**

**Reaching the top of the stairwell he had been climbing for what felt like forever the dog hanyou leapt out to find the outside sun shining down onto the massive keep. However, he didn't let his guard drop as he quickly found the one he had been searching for since he had broken into the Southern Keep.**

**On the far side of the roof sitting at table was a dark blue haired demon that had skin that was the shade of alabaster. His dark purple eyes seemed to be distant as the breeze blew his mid-back length hair slightly, though it didn't move it much since it was in a ponytail. The kimono top and pants he wore were a dark purple color that had blue water drops embroidered into it and an orange obi tied at his waist. A metallic breast plate wrapped around his chest and ran to his back, along with a set of thick metallic shoulder pads. Dug into the ground next to him was a massive halberd that was gray and had a five foot long blade that was at least a half a foot in width. The end had a curled up tip, while a few feet back from the tip was a hole big enough to fit a person's head within it. Near the guard of the blade was a cut out section that seemed half the diameter of the other large hole. The hilt itself was about two foot long and gave the blade an impressive, if not intimidating, length.**

The demon remained silent as if he had not spotted the hanyou and simply continued sipping on sake instead of paying his guest any heed.

Crossing the area between himself and the water demon at a slow pace, the dog hanyou soon found himself standing before the table where the demon sat.

"Lord Aikamaru." Iya curtly announced.

Still sipping his rice wine, the demon lord stayed quiet. Sitting his saucer down, he stood and smoothly said "Lord Sesshomaru again humiliates me by sending a half breed."

"The war is over for you and your lands, Lord Aikamaru. Your army guarding the keep has been smashed. It's not too late to give the order of surrender to your troops. There is nothing to be gained by having them continue to fight a hopeless battle."

"Lost you say?" Aikamaru questioned in a mocking tone. "Hardly. I will not surrender my lands to the likes of you or anyone else. My men will continue to fight till they are dead."

Forcing his temper back, the hanyou icily replied "Your general is dead, along with your own personal bodyguard. Lord Aikamaru, I implore you to give the order to surrender. There is no need to pointless bloodshed. Do not let your pride cloud your judgment."

**Lightly chuckling as he moved over to where his halberd was embedded into the ground, the demon lord mockingly asked "What would you know of pride, half breed? You, a mongrel that should never have been born, know nothing of a demon's pride. I am the Lord of the Southern Lands and shall continue to be so, while you, a mutt, are nothing and will always be nothing. No matter how much you wish to become a demon, you never will be."**

**"I have no desire to become a demon." Iya retorted in a clipped tone. "I am what I am. I take pride in the fact I am a hanyou and have no desire to change from it."**

**"As I expected of such a weakling." the demon lord stated as he drew his sword from the ground and set it on his right shoulder to rest. "Tell me, do you resent your brother for sending you to die in his place?"**

**"I came here of my own accord. Don't underestimate me."**

**Sneering, Aikamaru remarked "Foolish really. You will die here. However, since I am a gracious demon, I will grant you one last request before killing you and dumping your corpse at your brother's feet."**

**Remaining quiet for a few moments as if he was pondering on a request, the hanyou at last spoke up and said "I wish for you to answer some questions of mine."**

**"That all? You are a surprising one. Very well, ask your questions and I shall answer them."**

**Looking into the demon lord, the dog hanyou casually said "Byakuya Kuchiki told me before his death that he and The Thirteen aided your lands when you became Lord of the South. Tell me, did you merely use him?"**

**"I was wondering if he had talked, seeing how he loved to do so to his opponents when he believed he had them beat. Such a fool." Aikamaru commented. "Yes, it is true, he was nothing more than a mere tool to me. I allowed him to think he had convinced me to let him and his petty group of mages to destroy the Western Lands. In the end, it was he who was used to serve the purpose of giving me more power."**

**Digesting the words that the demon lord had spoken, Iya coolly asked "Did you intend on having Ryukotsusei to kill my father?"**

**Sneering at the black haired young man, the water demon remarked "No, it was simply a bonus to learn of his death at the hands of that dragon. I had originally thought that your dearly departed father would send either Sesshomaru or yourself to deal with Ryukotsusei. It was quite a shock to learn that he himself went to take on that foolish dragon and was fatally wounded. Heh, he should have let that human whore die instead of going to her. He may have lived had he not rushed to her side on that fateful night."**

**"Yet nothing went as planned afterwards. I had not anticipated Lord Sesshomaru to manage to take up the seat of the Lord of the West so quickly and with such authority. He ruled with an iron fist in those days, causing me issues but also my delight." the demon stated with a euphoric look on his face.**

**"However, over time, he became weak and complacent thanks to the influence of humans on his life. If he had remained as he should have been, he could have aided me in wiping out humans once and for all."**

**"You misjudge my brother, Lord Aikamara." the dog hanyou quipped. "He realized that there are some things in life worth protecting, in which you become stronger because of that."**

**Shrugging at the statement, the demon lord replied "It matters not what ..."**

**"I take it that both former Lord Yomi and you were working together for the destruction of the Western Lands?" Iya questioned as he cut off the demon lord.**

**Irked that he was interrupted, the water demon retorted "But of course. Yomi hated the Western Lands just as much as I did, but he was soft. He would do nothing but plot and sneak about and was too afraid to ever make a move. In short, Yomi was pathetic."**

**"So you had him replaced?" the hanyou questioned if not stated.**

**"Naturally. I was fed up with Yomi's cowardliness and inability to act on my commands. He was a fool till the very end, believing if he waited long enough that someone would falter and he would swoop in to pick up the pieces. It was because of this stupidity that I at last made the choice to have him removed from power."**

**"Finding a replacement of course was difficult. I studied the clans of the Eastern Lands and found that many had a grudge against Yomi, but none were willing to step up."**

**Pausing for a moment, the water demon smirked and added "Then I found Sasuke, the new clan leader of the hawk demons, whose power worried Yomi more so than other clans. When I found this information out, I made contact with Sasuke and he agreed to remove Yomi from power and to become the new Lord of the Eastern Lands. I would supply him with weaponry and funds while he would organize and command the rebellion."**

**"Hearing of Yomi's defeat was music to my ears. At last, the weakling I had longed to be rid of was gone and now I had a new pawn that would do my bidding. Of course, I am well aware that Sasuke has his own agenda, but just having someone to support me would be enough for the time being until we finished off the West and North."**

**Taking in all the words of the water demon and processing them within his mind, the hanyou found he had clenched his fists tightly to the point that his claws had dug into the palms of his hands and drew blood. Staring into the purple eyes of the one that plotted so much destruction with his own muddy brown ones, he couldn't help but feel his anger enkindled.**

**"Does this make you upset, half breed?" Aikamaru provoked. "Knowing that I was responsible for the events leading to your father's death and to the death of another lord?"**

**Hiding his eyes beneath the shadows of his bangs, the dog hanyou replied in a cold tone "The things you have done can never be forgiven."**

**Raising his head to reveal determined eyes, he added "I cannot and will not allow you to remain the Lord of the Southern Lands any longer. You would bring destruction to all just to satisfy your thirst for power."**

**"Like you could ever hope to stop me." the demon lord retorted. "You are weak. It is time for me to kill you. I do hope you gained all the answers you wanted before I send you to the underworld."**

**"It will not be I who dies here today." Iya stated just as his right hand took hold of the hilt of Ketsaiga and ever so slowly began drawing the blade from it's sheath. Reaching the end of the sheath, he drew the blade away and swung it out to this right side and called forth it's transformation. The sword immediately changed into it's halberd form that resembled a fang with a black ring of fur for a guard.**

**Once more smirking, Aikamaru smugly remarked "You get points for your courage, but little can be said about your intelligence. Half breeds should know their place and be begging for their lives, not challenging a demon lord to combat."**

**"We'll see who is begging in the end." the hanyou quipped.**

000

000

**"He's straight ahead." Yoshe declared as the neko hanyou and herself closed in on the throne room of the Eastern Lord. "Be sharp Lilly."**

**"Understood." the neko replied.**

**Entering into the large room that held massive tapestries depicting the fan like symbol of the Uchiha clan, the hanyou and ice demoness quickly spotted their target lazily sitting in his throne with his head propped up by his left hand that sat in the shadows.**

**Standing and smoothing out his pants, the Lord of the East sauntered forward out of the shadows of the room to reveal himself. He had jet black hair with locks reaching down to his chin and framed the sides of his face while the rest reached down to the back of his neck. Black coal eyes stared at the pair with contempt reflecting in them. A white top that was mostly open clothed his top half while a pair of dark blue pants covered his lower half. Over top his pants was a dark blue wrap that went to just above his calves in length. A purple thick rope that was knotted on the front performed the action of an obi. On his wrists, gray coverings covered them while a pair of gray socks with sandals framed his feet. Sticking out from the purple rope slanted to the right was a gray like stick, but upon closer inspection, it revealed to have a cut section that looked like it had a hidden blade within it.**

**"So Lord Sesshomaru sent two women to kill me. How absurd." Sasuke stated in a long drawl.**

**Not taking her eyes off the demon lord, Yoshe politely said "Lord Sasuke, the war is over. The Eastern Capital has been taken. There is no need to continue to fight. I suggest surrendering while you still have time."**

**Eyes meeting the demoness's, the black haired demon asked with sarcasm in his voice "And why should I do so? It seems that the Western and Northern Lands underestimates the power of my lands, along with those of the Southern Lands. Do you think your pitiful attack on my capital will lead to the end of the war?"**

**"Lord Sasuke, you have lost." Lilly spoke up in a calm tone. "There is no shame in admitting defeat. Surely even you can see that the situation is too far gone for you to counter."**

**Turning his coal eyes towards the hanyou, the demon lord smoothly replied "It isn't over yet. I have ways of fighting even when situations like this arise. Trust me, if it's one thing I learned from the revolt against Yomi, it's not to underestimate the power of those backed into a corner."**

**"It is useless, Lord Sasuke." Yoshe stated. "Even you must realize this. Do the sensible thing and surrender control of your lands. If you do so, I promise I will vouch for you and make certain that you are given a fair trial for the things you have done."**

**Hearing low chuckling from the demon lord, the pair of women suddenly heard his laughter grow more boisterous and louder till he threw his head back and continue his laugh.**

**Stopping without warning, the hawk demon coldly stated "The arrogance of the Western and Northern Lands knows no bounds. Make no mistake, I will kill both of you for daring to stand before me and challenge me on behalf of your mates. They will know what true loss is once they find your mutilated bodies thrown over into the Western Lands. I only wish I could see the look of horror and pain that those two fools would wear on their faces upon seeing your corpses."**

**Reaching behind himself and placing his right hand on the end of the long stick behind himself, the hawk demon took hold and pulled on the end to reveal the hidden blade within. Drawing it out ever so slowly that the sound of steel sliding out became evident to the pair of fighters before him, the demon lord at last brought out his sword and kept it held with it diagonally pointing at the ground in his right hand. The glint of steel made the blade seem even more powerful than it looked originally.**

**Letting out a ragged sigh as her hand went to the hilt of her own katana, the ice demoness smoothly said "I see words are pointless with you. Very well Lord Sasuke, we shall do what is necessary to remove you from power."**

**"Talking to you obviously means nothing." Lilly added. "We will have to show you why we were chosen to face you. Perhaps then you will realize that our resolve will not be shaken."**

**Crouching down into ready stances at the same times, both the demoness and hanyou brought their **zanpakutō out of their sheaths. The ice demoness held hers with both hands while the neko held hers with one hand. Inching forward, each readied for the upcoming battle.

"Your stances show readiness but I wonder if either of you are truly ready." Sasuke commented as his eyes studied the pair.

Taking off like a shot out of a cannon, Lilly descended upon the demon lord quicker than he thought she could. Their blades clashed loudly with the sound of steel singing throughout the throne room and a shower of sparks pouring out into the floor. Struggling against one another, they pushed off each other at the same time with the pair coming right back into the battle.

Staying back where she had started, Yoshe gave no sign of wanting to jump into the fray.

Picking up on the fact the Lady of the West was stationary, the demon lord inwardly smirked as he continued to trade blows with the neko. "_It's as my spies in the West said, the hanyou is strong and has quite a bit of swordsmanship skills while the Lady of the West is more of a support fighter and has very little ability with a sword. I have no doubt that she'll try to use her __Kidō spells from a distance to give the neko an advantage. However, that won't happen._"

**All at once, the neko shoved the demon lord roughly, making him refocus his attention on the battle with her. As he did so, he suddenly realized that the ice demoness was approaching their position rapidly with her blade poised to plunge in his gut. Dodging at the last moment, he was amazed when he saw the pair trade places and it was now the demoness on the attack while the neko retreated a short ways to watch.**

**Increasing the intensity of her slashes and stabs, Yoshe smirked at the surprised look on her opponent's face. At the same time, Lilly only could smirk as she raised her right hand to reveal a flaming orb of energy gathering within her hand.**

**"**Hadō 31: **Shakkahō!"**

**Dodging the flaming sphere of power, the demon lord had little time to recover as he was reengaged in battle by the ice demoness. His attention was quickly drawn away again when a barrage of fireballs came raining down on his position. Using his agility, he dodged each, however, that was put to the test as the ice demoness continued to harass him with her numerous attacks.**

**"****_Damn, it's opposite of the reports! At this rate ..._****"**

**Unable to finish the thought when he felt the cool blade of steel graze his cheek, Sasuke leapt backwards seventeen yards and panted lightly. Reaching up with his free hand he felt a small amount of blood oozing out of the minor scratch.**

**"We were selected ..." Yoshe began with Lilly finishing her sentence "... to fight with you not because of our individual skills."**

**Shaking her head, the ice demoness added "It is our teamwork that makes us a powerful force to reckon with. Tell me, was your spies information wrong?"**

**A bit shocked at the news that his spy had been caught, Sasuke didn't have a chance to answer as the hanyou said "The Western Lands discovered quite a few spies within it's ranks thanks to the information mined from the neko spy known as Azami. It was her information that enabled us to find many of the Southern and Eastern Lands spies that within our ranks."**

**"Your spies information was wrong due that they only had info on us from before the war. Right after it began, both Lilly and myself trained together more frequently in seclusion. Your spies could not find us in those areas due that they were reserved for only demons of high level." the ice demoness explained.**

**"The information you were given was incorrect. We made sure to send something to you, though it was all information that anyone within the West would be privy to." the neko stated.**

**Clutching his blade tightly as he ground his teeth together, Sasuke growled out "You mean to say that the information received has been falsified."**

**"That's correct." both ladies retorted in unison.**

**Hiding his eyes beneath his bangs as his anger seemed to be boiling over, the demon lord rose his head sharply to reveal his coal eyes were now red with three comma like marks in each.**

**"In that case, I shall have to interrogate both of you and find out whatever information I can. I think perhaps I can at least kill one of you. Which it will be, I'm not certain yet. I'll enjoy extracting the information though. Perhaps it will make up for the insolence that I have received from my personal spy network."**

**"You will try." Lilly and Yoshe stated as they settled back into ready stances.**


	23. Chapter 23: True Power

**Hey everyone! So, it's been a very, very long last two weeks. Ugh, work has just been draining, then stuff at home has taken up so much time also, and lastly, the heat is about to push me over the freaking edge. I'm not fond of heat to begin with, but when it's in the 90's daily with the heat index pushing into the 100's range, I start to snap. Honestly, the hotter it gets, the more impatient I become I think. It's one of those annoying characteristics I picked up somewhere. Btw, heat sucks when you need to mow your yard. I look like I've soaked my shirt in water when I finish up doing anything. Oh well, enough complaining about the heat. If I had to gauge my stress level, I'd be putting it on the highest setting, which has an even higher setting, lol. But anyways, things are just rolling along like normal. Real world = pain in the ass. I want to escape and just write out about mystical stuff, hehe.**

**Writing wise, things are very, very, very slow. I'm progressing through chapters, but it's kind of irritating when you can't make much headway with a story. I just don't have the time I once did to work on my stories at work or home. I suppose I need to make more room in my life for it, but we'll see how that goes. So unless someone wishes to pay me for my writing, don't expect a whole lot from me, lol. That's not saying I won't keep up with this story. By no means to I intend on letting this story fall to the wayside.**

**No reviews, which surprises me kinda. Oh well, it happens.**

**With that said, I'm done for today. Have plenty to do, so until next time. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 23**

Holding back her tears as she examined the body of her mate, Orihime felt her heart threatening to burst in her chest.

When she had left the others after helping find the wounded and being reassured by May that she could handle taking care of the injured, the mage had set out to find her mate. It was a long and tedious process due that she had to go by where her instincts had told her she had felt his aura last fade from. However, luck was on her side when she managed to pick up his scent, but also the scent of blood was thick in the air that worried her even more so.

At last the demoness had found him face down with his sword no longer in it's cleaver blade form and his aura nonexistent. She had panicked at first when seeing this. Reality soon hit her as she realized that he must be alive due that she was also. Turning him over, she discovered he was very much alive and seemingly unharmed. His hair was shaggier than usual and his normal characteristics that gave hint at his demon heritage were gone.

"That's why... Ichigo, did you give up your powers?" she questioned softly. Uncertain, she hoisted the unconscious orange haired human onto her back and grabbed his sword as well. "Don't worry, I'll protect you until you wake up."

Walking off in the direction she had traveled from, Orihime sadly smiled at the face of her mate as she made her way back to the others.

000

000

"Lord Sesshomaru, welcome back."

Throwing a quick glance at the eagle general that had spoke to him, the dog demon disregarded him and retorted "Hn. How fairs the battle, General Takahashi?"

"The enemies forces are being overwhelmed, my Lord. There has been an arrival of two hanyous that said they were sent here to fight by a demoness known as Neliel Tu Oderschvank. Three other hanyous also joined in the battle from the same demoness and have helped end many of our longer battles." the general reported.

Listening, the demon lord merely replied "Hn. Any word from this Sesshomaru's brother?"

Shaking his head in a no fashion, the eagle general remarked "No my Lord. Lord Iya has yet to be accounted for. However, his demonic aura has been sensed in the location of the Lord of the Southern Lands. He is more than likely engaged in battle with him at this very moment."

Lips twitching into a cold smile, the dog demon nodded his head and walked onwards towards the battlefield as he drew his sword. "Then let us finish this battle."

000

000

"Come now, don't tell me all of you are afraid of little old me?"

Shifting their stances as they stared down the white diamond shaped masked neko hanyou. She wielded a massive pole with a spade shaped blade on the end. Her pleated green battle skirt and white top shifted gently in the breeze as she stood staring the group down.

"Well, if you won't make the first move, I will." Lisa stated in her echoed like voice.

Vanishing in a flash, she reappeared moments later and swung her large weapon out to the side to flick blood of off it. Behind her, the numerous demons she had been facing off with fell over onto the ground and laid there dead. Reaching up, she dismissed her mask with a wiping motion.

Hearing approaching footsteps and loud talking, she sniffed the air and quickly identified the owners of the voices. Turning she found both her fellow hanyou comrades bickering among themselves.

"I TOLD YOU A MILLION TIMES NOW THAT WE'RE NOT MATES! KAMI, DROP IT!"

"That's mean Kensei!" Mashiro whined.

Visibly angered even further, Kensei snarled out "Damn it, leave me alone with this crap!"

"You two fighting again?" Lisa questioned in a bored tone. "Mates shouldn't be so harsh with one another."

"Why you ..." the wolf hanyou began, but was cut off when he picked up a familiar scent.

The other two hanyous instantly realized the same thing he had and turned in the direction of the familiar scent and aura. Moving towards it, the three found their mentor and teacher being aided back onto the battlefield by the Lord of the North.

Quickly to her side, Lisa asked "Lady Neliel, are you alright?"

"I'll be alright." Neliel responded evenly with a light wince as she shifted her weight. "I'm certain in a few days I'll be fully healed."

"Ladies Kagome and Tsunade can take care of your injuries." Kouga interjected. "No need to be stubborn about receiving help."

"Don't talk to Lady Neliel like that!" Mashiro ground out.

Smacking the top of her head with a somewhat gentle fist, Kensei remarked "Mashiro, mind your manners around the Lord of the North."

"Ow, that hurt Kensei. Don't be so mean."

Slightly amused by the pair, the wolf demon noted the sight of one of his generals quickly approaching their location. Finding it was the lone ice demoness he had made general many years earlier on, he saw her reach them and bow deeply to him. Her body had some minor wounds, but nothing life threatening.

"Lord Kouga."

Waving her off, he replied "No need for that at the moment General Nakamura."

Rising and nodding her head, the demoness smoothly said "My Lord, I take it that your battle has been concluded with your victory."

Looking away with a bit of shame, the wolf demon muttered "Something like that. General Ulquiorra is no longer among the living to say the least."

Pausing for a moment, he looked back at the general and asked "What of the battle here?"

"The battle proceeds well, my Lord. Most of the Eastern Troops have been thinned down and many are beginning to surrender to our forces. There are some squads putting up stiff resistance, but most are realizing they are fighting a fruitless battle. I look to have the capital fully in our grasp within the next hour." the general declared.

Nodding his head as he gazed off in the distance towards the towering castle, the demon lord asked with concern in his voice "What of the three that infiltrated the Eastern Castle?"

Eyes lowering towards the ground, the general replied "We have had no confirmation from any of them since they entered the castle."

Raising her eyes to meet the wolf demon's, she added "So far, we have determined though that Lord Inuyasha must be done with his battle. His aura was much larger earlier, along with his opponent's. It has since settled down and it seems he is victorious due that his foe's is very low at this point and time."

"As for Ladies Yoshe and Lilly, it seems their fight has only begun. Lord Sasuke's aura has risen up from it's lower levels, along with both Ladies. We are assuming they are currently in the midst of their own conflict."

"I see." Kouga commented. Motioning towards the hanyous, he asked "Could you three take care of Neliel here?"

Receiving a quick nod from the wolf hanyou, the demon lord gently handed the centaur demoness off to the hanyou. Carefully, he scooped her up and held her in his arms bridal style.

"What do you intend on doing, Lord Kouga?" Neliel questioned, but already knew the answer to her own question.

Feeling his gaze drawn to the castle in the near distance, the wolf demon answered "I think that's easy enough to figure out. I intend on entering in there and finishing this battle. We have won and the Eastern Lord must be made to realize that. Any fighting beyond this point is pointless."

"Understood, my Lord."

Taking a few steps in the direction of the castle before coming to a stop, Kouga coolly said "I want you to round up a small battalion and prepare to enter into the castle General Nakamura."

Bowing to the wolf demon, the blonde haired ice demoness replied "Hai."

"General Nakamura, there is one standing order to be given."

"My Lord?"

Spinning around to face the demoness, he stated "Any that surrender are to be given fair treatment and taken from the castle. I want as little casualties as possible on both sides."

"Yes Lord Kouga." Nakamura answered firmly.

000

000

Grinding their large halberds against one another, the dog hanyou and water demon let out a low growls as their auras began pouring out of their bodies. The light blue aura of the hanyou seemed far less intimidating than the sickly purple aura of his opponent. Sparks flared to the ground from the intense exchange as both refused to give up on showing their dominance.

At last, in a joint decision, the pair broke apart to stare one another down.

"You should be more appreciative that both Lords Inutaisho and Sesshomaru taught you how to use that blade in combat, half breed." Aikamaru snidely stated.

Raising Ketsaiga in front of himself, Iya looked over the halberd and slightly smiled. "I am very appreciative of the skills my father and brother both taught me. They're the skills that have saved my life many times, and today, I'll put them to the test against you."

"Don't get too overconfident, half breed." the water demon smugly remarked. "Just because you have some skill means nothing."

"Yet here I stand." the hanyou commented with a smirk on his face. "You talked as if I would die within the first minute of our battle. Here I thought you were going to kill me and throw my corpse before my brother so he would come fight with you. Is this proving more challenging to you than what you initially thought, Lord Aikamaru?"

Fuming from the comments of his opponent, the water demon started to charge at his opponent but quickly settled. Sneering, he retorted "No half breed can defeat me."

"Tell me Lord Aikamaru," Iya drawled, "why do you fight?"

"Why do I fight?" Aikamaru incredulously parroted. "What a stupid question! I fight to gain power."

The hanyou let out a light snort at the answer and quietly chuckled. "It only figures that would be your answer. You're no better than those of The Thirteen and their former army."

"What of it, half breed? I desire power and will take it from those that do not understand how to use or control it. I have had this thirst for it since birth. That is why I am who I am now."

Raising his blade up, the demon lord added "This very blade is proof of that. My Executioners Blade, or if you prefer it's true name, Kubikiribōchō, was not mine originally. No, it belonged to my master."

"My master was a powerful and wise demon. His philosophy to life was to protect the weak and uphold justice, not to mention remain honorable. He taught me all of his techniques and even how to handle a blade of this size. He had high hopes for me, that I would change the Southern Lands and make them much greater than what my father had."

"His faith in me and his ideals for the world were pathetic." the demon stated with disdain echoing in his voice. "He thought I would change how the Southern Lands did things: that I would bring balance and make it settle down and forget about war and bring peace between demons and humans. It made me sick to my stomach to have to suffer through his pointless yammering."

Sneering, he said "His power was incredible but his mind was feeble. The nonsense he spouted about humans and demons was his one weakness. In the end, I took his life, but not before sealing away his power into Kubikiribōchō. Yes, his power added to my blade has given it far greater strength than it ever had. Even now I feel his despair within it, which gives me even more power. His anger and hatred for what I have done to him only increases my powers."

"My hunger for power will not be sated until I have killed all beings with human blood in them and have taken over Japan. It is the power of ruling this country that drives me!" the demon lord declared with a maniacal smile on his face.

Remaining silent for a few moments and letting out a heavy sigh, Iya coolly replied "You don't understand what true power is."

"Enlighten me what true power is then, half breed?"

"Very well." the hanyou quipped. "True power is that which your master taught you: finding something worth protecting. My father taught that lesson to me many years ago. Only when you find that which you wish to protect will you truly become strong. Father understood that oh too well and tried to instill that into both Sesshomaru and myself. Had he survived to raise Inuyasha, he too would have been taught similarly. Though he did not live to teach him this lesson, my younger brother did understand it and learned it was one of the most important things in life."

"But you don't understand." Iya declared as he pointed his sword at the demon lord. "You think that protecting something is a weakness when in all actuality makes a person far stronger. Power will only take you so far."

Swinging his blade away to his side, the black haired hanyou added "My brother learned that lesson the hard way. Sesshomaru obsessed over the Tetsusaiga for years. He sought power and it's allure made him believe that it's power would give him the ultimate conquest that he thirsted for."

"It took him nearly losing his life for him to realize that there is more to life than power. He discovered that protecting those around you can afford you even greater power than that which you take. His ward and the wind demoness Kagura gave him even more power than he had ever had and eventually to the point that he managed to find his own sword, Bakusaiga. Because of these things he became the great daiyoukai he is today."

"But you don't understand, do you? You think power is all about what you can take and become, for power to you is nothing more than a means to satisfy your ego. That is why you have failed to win this war and will lose this battle to nothing more than a half breed."

Lazily evading a slash meant to split in him two, the hanyou spun around to counter. Grinding his blade against the halberd of his opponent, he smartly asked "Did I say something to set you off? My deepest apologies if I have."

"Trash should know when to shut up!" roared Aikamaru. With all his strength, the water demon sent the hanyou skidding backwards across the roof of the keep.

Coming to a stop, the black haired hanyou only had a moment's notice to turn Ketsaiga onto it's broad side to block a power laden stab that would have skewered him had he not. Holding his ground and gritting his teeth, he stared into the infuriated eyes of his opponent to find nothing but anger and hatred within the purple orbs.

"_Must have struck a nerve._"

"Not so cocky now, are you half breed!" Aikamaru all but snarled.

Still forced to brace his sword with his left hand, Iya coolly remarked "I suppose not. Tell me, Lord Aikamaru, are we done warming up?"

"Insolent wretch!"

Pushed away, the hanyou quickly did a back flip in mid-air. Landing on the balls of his feet, he eyed his opponent for a long moment. He slowly began releasing light blue demonic aura from his body and felt the power of his sword responding to this process.

Eyes filled with anger and hate, the demon lord's own purple aura flared forth and coated his entire body. As his power rose, he began gritting his teeth and allowed a sneer to frame his face.

The air around the two fighters started becoming heavier and heavier due to the amount of power each was releasing. The air became stifling yet neither were affected by it.

Suddenly rocketing across the roof of the keep towards the demon lord, Iya launched a series of slashes, swings, and jabs. Each of his attacks were parried but he kept the pressure on his foe. Throwing a surprise kick in, he couldn't help but let a small smirk escape when it landed into the ribs of the water demon and made said demon take several steps back.

Using the opening to his advantage, the hanyou summoned forth Ketsaiga's power. Swirling wind immediately encircled the blade as he raised it up over his head.

"Wind Slash!"

The blade smashing the ground sent the swirling winds forward in a powerful beam of glowing white demonic energy. Unable to put his guard up against the attack, the water demon was struck by the blast's destructive power.

A loud splashing sound filled the air as smoke rose from the point of contact. Bit by bit, the smoke dissipated to reveal that the water demon's body from his torso up was obliterated.

Iya stared in surprise at the destroyed corpse, but his mind couldn't wrap itself around the results of his attack. Brow furrowing, he stood there and kept watch. "_I know that Wind Slash didn't have that much power behind it. Aikamaru should have been hurt somewhat, but not destroyed._"

Realization hit him and made him slightly grin. Taking a few steps back, he called out "Feigning death is only prolonging this fight. Aren't you a little old for playing these games?"

Without warning, the torso of the water demon leapt up onto it's feet and started shaking. Water that had been coating the ground raced back into the torso and up to the blown off parts of the body. The once destroyed body of the water demon suddenly refurbished itself with a new set of arms and head. Whole again, the demon sneered at the hanyou as he took up his large sword.

"It's amazing a half breed like you knows such things. What gave me away?"

"Nothing." the hanyou quipped. "It's the knowledge I was taught as a child that kept me from believing this battle was over. A younger me may have been fooled but not now. Was that merely a test to see what I would do or did you honestly think I would let my guard down?"

Lightly chuckling as he stared the hanyou down, the water demon remarked "A bit of both, I suppose. I was mostly curious to see what attack you would use on me since I had left myself open for it. "

"Oh, so you left yourself open on purpose?" Iya drawled with a smirk. "Why so curious about what attack I'd use?"

Remaining calm as he heaved his sword up onto his right shoulder, the demon lord coolly remarked "I was just merely curious which of your attacks you would use."

Spotting a slightly irked expression on his foe's face, the demon sneered and added "Yes, I know of all your attacks with that sword, Ketsaiga. The first is simple enough: it is the only attack that form of your sword has. It is called Wind Slash and is an attack consisting of wind elemental power. That attack is similar in power to the attack your younger brother has called the Wind Scar, however Wind Slash compresses the attack into a single burst rather than dispersed."

"Then there is your Ketsaiga's icy form that holds all of your other attacks. Your most frequently used attack in that form is Shard Storm, which launches a wave of ice chunks cut into the shape of daggers. Then there is your defensive attack called Ice Barrier. It creates a thick wall of ice that can repel almost any and all attacks without giving way. Your next attack is called Cold Wave and is one of the more dangerous of them all. Whatever your sword touches is frozen on contact."

"Then there are your more powerful attacks, first being Aisu Mirā. It is an attack that creates numerous walls of ice in which you are capable of moving through and firing attacks at your opponent. The attack surrounds your opponent, keeping them from fleeing from your constant barrage of Wind Slashes and Shard Storms."

"And last but not least, your most powerful attack, which is primarily a finisher move from what I understand, is Ice Hurricane. It is an attack that surrounds an opponent in a vortex of icy wind that keeps them from fleeing or the attack from missing. Next it fires numerous ice daggers at your foe, and lastly, spears of ice rise up out of the ground and impale them. Quite a painful way for someone to die, to say the least."

"So you know of my attacks? What of it?" Iya asked with a touch of irritation showing.

Still smirking, the demon lord remarked "Your pathetic attacks will not destroy me, half breed."

"Confident, aren't you?" the hanyou bulked.

"I have no reason not to be." Aikamaru answered firmly. "As I said, you have nothing that can stop me."

"We'll see."

Widening his stance while moving his halberd in front of his body, the black haired hanyou body tensed up. Eyeing his opponent, he searched for any weaknesses or openings to make the task easier.

"_I need to finish this battle as quickly as possible. The longer this thing drags out, the more people will die out in the battlefield. If I can just incapacitate him for just a little while, we may be able to convince the Southern Soldiers to surrender._"

Clutching his sword's hilt tightly as he shifted his stance once more, he added "_That's assuming I'm able to find a way to take him out of the equation. He seems so confident that he can beat me, like he knows what I'll do._"

"You can't win half breed." Aikamaru taunted. "All your efforts are useless."

"I'll be the one to determine that." Iya retorted as he suddenly launched forward.

His body at full speed and sword cutting through the air as he moved towards the arrogant water demon that stood his ground, the hanyou drew his blade up over his head and took to the air. As he came down, he threw all his weight into his downwards cutting action.

Blocked by the large sword of his opponent, he pushed off and flashed away. The dog hanyou soon reappeared behind the water demon with his sword in mid-swing.

Flashing away just as the edge of the sword was about to cut into him, the demon lord appeared to the side of the hanyou. Blade poised to stab straight through the hanyou's side, he thrust it forward. Doing so, he slid his eyes to his right to find his target was a few yards away. Glancing at what he had stabbed, he found it was nothing more than an afterimage.

"So you have some speed." the demon lord dryly commented.

Smirking in reply, the hanyou retorted "As do you."

Launching forward at breakneck speed, the hanyou was upon the demon lord with his sword drawn back and ready to thrust forward. Shoving it forward, he found his blade was dodged.

The demon lord expected the hanyou to pull back after failing to land a blow, but was shocked when a blinding flurry of stabs came at him. He managed to expertly shift his body to avoid each.

Inwardly pleased he hadn't guessed wrong to what the water demon would do, Iya pushed power into Ketsaiga and felt the blade pulsate in response. In mid-stab, he called forth it's icy transformation, causing the sword to coat itself in ice with frosty steam pouring off of it's cold blade.

Aikamaru's eyes instantly narrowed as he sensed a pulsing coming from the attacking sword. No time left, he gasped in shock as the hanyou drew the blade back and slammed it hard into his own weapon.

Smirking, Iya icily said "Cold Wave."

Ice instantly coated Kubikiribōchō and ran up the hands of the water demon. His hands were suddenly frozen and kept him from letting go of the sword. The ice rapidly climbed up his body and started the process of freezing his body. Within a few seconds, his entire body was frozen solid.

Iya drew his sword back when he was certain that his opponent was unable to move and dismissed the icy transformation of his weapon. Reversing the sword back to it's normal katana form, he sheathed the blade and turned away. Walking several feet away, he stopped and glanced over his shoulder at the frozen water demon and let out a soft sigh.

"Your overconfidence was your greatest weakness. A shame you didn't realize that before the end of this fight. Now you will remain like that until Sesshomaru makes a decision on what to do with you. Farewell, Lord Aikamaru."

Turning away and making his way towards the stairwell he had used to ascend to the roof of the keep, the hanyou suddenly picked up the sound of something shattering and a massive amount killer intent focused solely on him. Realizing the danger he was in, he managed to just move forward enough to avoid being cut in half. However, he didn't escape unscathed and received a shallow gash on his right arm.

Rolling away and back on his feet he saw that the water demon was sneering at him. "But how?"

"Surprising trash like you can move that fast." Aikamaru commented while still sneering.

Blood dripping to the ground from the tip of Kubikiribōchō caught the dog hanyou's eye and made his ears twitch slightly. The scent of his metallic life force filled his nostrils and sent a small chill up his spine. Reaching up, he cupped his hand around the wound on the side of his arm. It wasn't very deep at all, more of a scratch than anything.

"_He broke free from Cold Wave... That's just not possible._"

"Let me ask you this, bastard child. Have you ever fought a water demon?"

Broken away from his thoughts and thinking back on all his past battles, the hanyou shook his head.

"You thought just because you father's fang has the ability to control ice that it would grant you victory in this battle. Against a weaker water demon, you may have been correct. However, I am far beyond that weakness."

Holding two fingers up, the demon lord added "Water demons have two major weaknesses, with both consisting of two elements. The first naturally is electricity while the second is the cold. It is the cold that restricts our movements the most and makes us more susceptible to becoming immobilized. It is for that reason most water demons refuse to face off with ice or electricity wielding opponents."

"And it is for that reason I stand far above all those weaklings! My former master taught me methods in which to reduce the damage done to me by lightning, but it was my own ingenious that led me to find a way to deal with the cold."

Patting his chest, Aikamaru smartly said "Water freezes whenever it reaches a certain temperature, thus forcing the molecules that make it up to slow down and become stationary. As this occurs, the water transforms into a new state, thus moving from a liquid to a solid."

"That is where my ingenious comes in. I can accelerate the molecules in my body at will and cause it to unfreeze. Even though I am frozen, I remain conscious, so naturally I can perform this task at any time I wish. That is why I waited for you to walk away before freeing myself."

"Do you understand now, half breed?" Aikamaru questioned as he pointed his blade at the dog hanyou. "Your sword's pitiful ice attacks will do no damage to me. You cannot stop me."

Regarding the water demon for several long moments as he processed his words, Iya at last coolly replied "That won't stop me. You may be able to stop my ice attacks, but I'll find a way to bring you down."

"Defiant to the end, eh?" the demon lord mocked. "Not that I mind. I will just have to tear your body to shreds just to be rid of you."

"We'll see if you can carry out that threat, won't we." the hanyou smartly answered.

000

000

Blow after blow the Lady of the West continued to clash with the Lord of the East. Neither could get the upper hand and to the hawk demon, this was becoming quite a frustrating fact.

"_She is a weakling! Only four years ago, her skills with a blade were next to nonexistent! Who could have trained her up in the way of kenjutsu to this level in such a short amount of time!_"

Thinking he had the answer, he retreated a short distance and took in a few deep breaths. Not taking his eyes off of the demoness, he noticed some sweat starting to roll down the sides of her face and that her breathing was a bit deeper than normal.

"Lord Sesshomaru trained you well, Lady Yoshe."

Giggling and making her presence known, Lilly stepped forward to beside the ice demoness. A similar smile appeared on the Lady of the West's face.

"My mate did not train me." Yoshe answered in smart tone.

Sasuke instantly had to suppress the urge to show his shock. Still curious to whom had trained the ice demoness, he asked "Then who? Lord Iya? He is said to be the second best swordsman in the Western Lands."

Only smiling at the demon lord's confusion, the neko hanyou tried to stifle her giggling. "He would if he ever had time. I'll let you in on a secret. The person you're trying to guess is the third best swordsman in the Western Lands."

Confused by her words and unsure what she meant, the hawk demon became engrossed in his thoughts on whom the third best swordsman in the West was.

"You probably won't figure it out on your own so let me inform you." Lilly stated. "This person that is supposedly the third best in the Western Lands is said to be able to hold their own with both Lords Sesshomaru and Iya. In fact, both trained the said person and helped develop their skills to what they are now."

"If you haven't figured it out yet, allow me to fill you in. It's me."

Staring at the neko in disbelief, the hawk demon scoffed at the accusation. "Ridiculous. You bluff."

"Do I now? You know for a fact that Iya trained me, but you probably didn't know that Lord Sesshomaru also took the time to train me also. Besides that, I've had the most time to improve upon my skills over the years. You saw only a small glimpse of them earlier on. Tell me, did you think that was the extent of my abilities?"

"It can't be that you're that skilled. No half demon could become that strong in such a short amount of time." Sasuke declared confidently.

Stepping forward with her sword in hand, the neko smoothly said "Then let me show you."

Eyes tracking her movements, the demon lord soon found himself crossing blades with the black haired hanyou. Her face was etched with determination as her sword ground against his own and made him adjust his grip. He quickly found her pulling back said blade and launched into a successive series of swipes, stabs, and well timed slashes. Each one was quicker than the last and were becoming more and more accurate. The set attacks made him realize that if not for his own training and sharp eyes, he would have more than likely been hit by her fast attacks.

Pushing away and taking up a defensive stance some distance from the hawk demon, the neko arrogantly asked "Do you still think I'm bluffing?"

Clenching the hilt of his blade tightly as he stared down the neko hanyou, the hawk demon ground his teeth together till suddenly his demeanor changed. Lowering his head slightly, his eyes became shadowed. All at once, he burst out laughing manically and let out a light grunt.

Holding his sword out in front of himself with it in his right hand, he swapped hands and flipped the blade so that the sharp portion was facing away from him and held it horizontally.

"I haven't had to get serious in quite a while. Usually I prefer to use my right hand and use a different style against my opponents so that no one can actually see what I can do. However, against the likes of you two, I will have to fight using my dominant hand and my true style of wielding a katana. This should make things more interesting." the demon lord stated.

"Oh, I see, you're ambidextrous and have two styles of fighting. One style is to use your right hand, while the other you use your left and tend to fight with your blade in reverse. Pretty impressive skills." Yoshe commented as she moved up beside the neko and took up a ready stance herself. In a low tone meant only for her partner to hear, she whispered "We need to be careful from here on in."

Ears twitching, the neko acknowledged with a silent "I know."

Shooting forward simultaneously, the pair of fighters engaged the demon lord with the neko taking the lead. The swords of the hanyou and hawk demon smashed together with a brilliant shower of sparks flaring to the ground and the sound of steel ringing throughout the throne room.

Jumping in blade first, the ice demoness split the pair of fighters apart. She quickly found herself on the defense as the demon lord forced her backwards, his blade slashing at her in odd angles she had never seen nor been forced to face before. His attacks were fast and furious and left absolutely no openings. A moment passed as a few small cuts began developing on her body, mainly her arms and one on her right cheek. Without warning, she received a kick to the mid-section that sent her spiraling backwards towards the wall.

Catching her partner before she could hit the wall, Lilly asked "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." Yoshe retorted as she got to her feet quickly.

The two had no more time to talk as the hawk demon came sailing in with blade poised to strike both down. Taking point once more, the neko refocused her attention on her opponent and tried to make out his patterns. Sweat started to form on her brow with each of the hawk demon's attacks that forced her to be defensive and never able to counter.

"_Shit he's fast! This is at the level that Sesshomaru fought me often. It's no wonder Yoshe got those few wounds in the last round. This battle is way over her head. If not for the fact I was trained to fight at this level, I'd probably be just as bad off as her._"

Grinding their blades against one another momentarily, the neko managed to free up her left hand that was bracing against her blade and pointed her index finger at the demon lord's head. In a low tone, she said "Hadō 4: Byakurai!"

The bolt of light blue energy immediately escaped the hanyou's finger and traveled the short distance towards the hawk demon's head. At the last moment, he shifted his head to side allowing the blast to bypass him and slam harmlessly into the back wall.

Taking the opening she had created, she swiped out with her claws and yelled "Infernal Swipe!"

Lilly's left clawed hand came to life with flames licking the tips of her claws. Swiping through the air at Sasuke's head, she managed to rake them across his left cheek just as he was starting to pull back.

Flicking the blood to the ground off her claws and extinguishing the flames coating them, she inwardly groaned at the fact she had missed an opportunity to finish the battle.

Feeling his cheek with his free right hand, Sasuke found dried blood and that the wound inflicted upon him had already been seared shut. A smoldering look of anger started to slowly leak into his crimson eyes while his vision remained focused on both the ice demoness and hanyou.

Without warning, light blue energy bolts of electricity started pouring off of his left hand and encircled the hilt of his sword. The electricity instantly coated his sword's blade from hilt to tip. Sounds of chirping birds seemed to fill the air from the electrified blade.

The pair of fighters soon saw him racing towards them with his electricity covered blade. Not backing down, the demoness moved forward and intercepted his attack. Their blades clashed with sparks raining down to the ground from the contact. Suddenly, the hawk demon's electrical blade began cutting through the demoness's blade, making her eyes widen in shock.

Just halfway through, the demon lord growled when he saw the hanyou appear over the ice demoness's shoulder with her index finger pointed at him and light blue energy flaring from the tip of her claw.

"Hadō 4: Byakurai!"

Sasuke nimbly evaded the bolt of lightning barely, but was forced to retreat a short distance away.

"You okay?" Lilly asked her partner.

Nodding her head slowly, Yoshe examined her sword to find the demon hawk's charged weapon had managed to cut halfway through.

"_Any further and he'd have cut through not only my sword, but me as well. Damn, what was that?_" the ice demoness pondered.

Keeping her eyes fixed on her opponent's glowing blade, Lilly couldn't help but feel worry and fear starting to creep into her mind. "_That attack is going to be trouble. If I hadn't of intervened on Yoshe's part there, her __zanpakutō would have been cut in half and she would have been seriously hurt. It seems that technique sharpens his blade many times over to the point he can cut through another sword effortlessly. We can't be reckless and lose our zanpakutōs. Without them, we stand less of a chance of beating him and securing the Eastern Castle._"

"_Perhaps I should test that attack to see what it can do. Let's hope this works out for me._"

"Done already?" Sasuke mocked.

The answer from the neko hanyou came swiftly as she flashed away and reappeared several feet above the hawk demon with her zanpakutō held up and ready to cut him as she came down towards him.

Sneering and raising his blade, the hawk demon was unprepared for what happened next.

"Bakudō 8: Seki." Lilly declared.

Forming on the middle of her sword's blade was a blue energy sphere no larger than four inches in diameter. Slashing downwards with all the force she could put into her sword, the hanyou smashed the pair of blades together. The energy sphere repulsed the electrical energy away and allowed the two blades to touch for just a moment. A moment passed before the demon lord was flung backwards.

Skidding to a stop and regaining his footing, the hawk demon smirked. "So you found a way to combat my indefensible Chidori Blade. Impressive."

"It wasn't easy, but I found a way to counter that technique. What you're doing sharpens the blade of your sword with that electricity." Lilly stated matter a factly.

"Close, but wrong." Sasuke retorted. "Chidori doesn't sharpen my blade. No, the electricity I send coursing through it creates vibrations. Sure, it increases the sharpness of my weapon, however, the real trick is the fact that the vibrations turn it into a weapon that saws through anything that clashes with it, whether it be steel, flesh, or bone."

In a low tone, Yoshe murmured "So that's it."

Hearing her partner's words, the neko commented "Your technique is quite unique. I wasn't sure how effective Kidō would be against it seeing how you nearly cut through Yoshe's sword, but I had to try. It seems that Kidō has an edge over it."

"Perhaps." Sasuke remarked in disdain.

"Lilly."

Turning her head to glance over her shoulder, the neko saw her partner with her zanpakutō held out horizontally. The blade was held out to her right with her right hand holding the hilt. Using her left hand to brace her wrist, the demoness's aura flared to life.

"Move."

Understanding the command, the neko was quick to move out of the way.

In a cold tone, Yoshe smoothly declared "Dance Sode no Shirayuki."

At the same time she spoke, the ice demoness rotated her wrist. The sword in her hand slowly turned solid white in color while the pommel lengthened six inches and a white six foot long ribbon grew out from it. As well, the guard on the blade transformed from a rectangular shape to a rounded one. Finishing up with the rotation, she had her zanpakutō pointed at the ground as the ribbon floated in a circular pattern before gracefully floating downwards and touching the ground. During the whole process, the very air within the throne room seemed to take on a sudden chill.

Staring at the katana within the Lady of the West's hand, the Eastern Lord noticed first that the damage he had done to the blade was completely repaired. He also felt the cold demonic aura pouring off of her person.

"Sode no Shirayuki, eh? So the so called most beautiful zanpakutō in the Western Lands has finally graced this battle with it's presence. Should I be honored?" Sasuke jeered.

Twisting her wrist so that the blade was once more horizontal and in front of herself, the ice demoness coolly said "Some no mai, Tsukishiro."

As she spoke, she flashed away. She soon enough reappeared two foot behind the hawk demon with her sword sweeping through the air to her right side. Beneath the feet of the demon lord and ice demoness, a glowing white circle formed and sent a surge of cold air into the room. Not even a moment had passed before ice started traveling up the hawk demon's feet and reached his waist in height and showed no signs of slowing.

Using the butt of his hilt, Sasuke smashed the ice off of his hips and disappeared. He soon reappeared halfway across the throne room. Once he had a chance, he looked towards where he had stood and saw a column of ice rise up and touch the ceiling.

"You dodged that pretty well, Lord of the East." Yoshe commented with her back still to the demon lord. "I'm guessing you saw through my movements even though I was moving faster."

Letting a small sneer appear on his face, the hawk demon retorted "Your speed is impressive but a far cry from what I can't track."

Changing her stance as she threw a small glance at her partner and nodded, the ice demoness drew her zanpakutō in front of herself. Her white demonic aura instantly flared to life and engulfed her body and sword, causing the very air in the room to chill even further.

She suddenly stabbed the blade of her sword into the ground near her left foot, causing a burst of white demonic energy to flare up from it and pour out even more freezing air. Repeating the process, the demoness stabbed the ground three more times to give her four total points of white energy bursting up from the earth. Sliding back her right foot, she took up a left forward stance and drew her zanpakutō up horizontally with the sharp side of her sword pointing to the sky and the tip pointed at the hawk demon. The blade radiated with white demonic aura while the bursts of energy pouring from the ground released more energy to the point wisps of it was floating upwards and seemed to mix together just above the ice demoness's head.

Clothing, hair, and ribbon of her sword rustling, she smoothly said "Tsugi no mai, ..."

Tensing at her words, the hawk demon's crimson eyes focused on the sight of white energy starting to gather at the tip of his opponent's katana. "_She's building up energy to launch a energy wave. Like I'll let that hit me._"

Broken from his thoughts by something appearing behind him, his eyes widened when he saw orange energy ribbons dancing around his body.

"You should not take your eyes off me!" Lilly declared and revealed it was her with the orange energy ribbons trailing from her index and middle fingers. "Bakudō 9: Hōrin!"

The two energy tendrils instantly wrapped tightly around the body of the demon lord and entrapped him perfectly. His eyes narrowed even further as he heard the demoness finish declaring her attack.

"... Hakuren."

A massive wave of snow shot forth from the tip of the white sword. The huge wave scrapped against the ground and froze everything beneath it as it did so. Reaching it's destination, the wave completely immersed the wide eyed demon lord within itself and hid him from the world.

Nearly a minute passed before the wave faded away to reveal a pathway made of ice and snow across the throne room. Frosty wisps of smoke rolled off of the ground due to the extreme cold.

The steam soon gave way to reveal the hawk demon frozen in place within a massive chunk of ice surrounding his body.

Flashing to the ice demoness's side, Lilly softly asked "Did we do it?"

"No, not yet." Yoshe replied as her brow furrowed.

Without warning, Sasuke's voice cut through the air, saying "Chidori Nagashi!"

Loud chirping could suddenly be heard as bolts of light blue lightning started pouring out from within the icy tomb of the hawk demon. The bolts easily cut through the ice and shattered it to reveal an unscathed demon lord with the same electrical energy flaring off his body. Shaking his head slightly, he managed to shrug the last of the ice crystals off of his head.

"I didn't think we were quite done with you." the ice demoness stated. "You used that barrier of lightning to prevent yourself from being frozen I take it."

Crimson eyes regarded the demoness for a moment before he said "I should have kept a better eye on your partner. If not for her spell, I would have evaded that last attack of yours."

Staring into the depths of her icy blue eyes, the hawk demon arrogantly added "It's far too slow to hit someone with superior speed."

**Thanks everyone for reading the chapter. Now, if you could do me a kind favor and review to let me know what you think of the chapter, I'd appreciate it.**


	24. Chapter 24: Maturity

**Yo everyone. So quite the busy last week or so. Last week I was left at work with my one coworker while another was on vacation all week. She does our help desk work with one of our current contracts, so it fell on myself and my other coworker to do all the work. That was fun, to say the least. However, last week was not all busy work. My mate and I celebrated our fifth wedding anniversary last Thursday. Altogether, we've been with one another for ten and a half years. It seems like so long ago when we first started dating, but at the same time, not. We had a great time that night, sort of, lol. We went out to find Outback had no gas to cook the food, so we settled on our second choice. It had a bit of a wait, but twenty minutes was a small price to pay. We had a lot of fun going out just to be out for once in a great while. At any rate, that's about it for last week. This week is somewhat busy too, but we're not rushed like usual at least.**

**Okay, I apologize for being late on this chapter. I started thinking a different story a bit the week before, which messed up my writing sequence. I usually focus my full attention on one story at a time, but I got distracted and tried to do two at once temporarily. I'm here to say no more of that. My primary focus is finishing this story, so no worries. I won't be late again, if I can help it. So once more, I deeply apologize for the lateness. I meant to get it out last night, but I was exhausted and couldn't.**

**Thanks to Katana for your review as always, and to alex 988. I really appreciate your reviews and promise to try harder in getting the chapters out on time. It's my first miscue with this story, so it's a bit disheartening. I will try harder though.**

**Well, that wraps it up for me. Thanks to all of you for showing me some patience on this chapter being late. Enjoy!**

**Meanings for certain words:**

_**Suisei Kattā = Aquatic Cutter**_

**Chapter 24**

"Superior speed." Yoshe parroted the demon lord. A small smirk crossed her face as she remarked "I'll be first to admit you're faster than myself, however, speed alone will not win you this battle."

Noting the facial expression of the hawk demon darkening, the pair watched anxiously as he drew his right arm up and pulled it back to his left shoulder. Electricity flared from his hand and sent bolts of light blue lightning through the air. He suddenly swiped it forward horizontally and left a arc of light blue energy in it's trail.

"Chidori Senbon."

Hundreds of electrical needles flew in the direction of the neko hanyou and ice demoness. On instinct, the pair began evading each of the small needles.

A few of the needles managed to fly through the sleeves of the Lady of the West, leaving pen prick sized holes in her flowing kimono.

With the last of the needles gone, the two took stock of themselves to find they were unscathed, with exception to the ice demoness's sleeves receiving minor damage. Frowning at that, she turned attention towards a scowling hawk demon.

Edging her body closer to her partner, Yoshe leaned towards the neko hanyou and lowly whispered "Do you remember the combo we came up with you binding and me using higher level spells?"

"Yeah." Lilly whispered back as her ears twitched. "I'll do what I can."

"Good."

Flashing away, the neko suddenly appeared behind the demon lord with her blade drawn out and ready to cut him in half.

Not even bothering to face her, Sasuke proudly declared "Chidori Nagashi."

Lightning flared around the hawk demon's body to create a protective barrier. Stopping her blade just in time so that it didn't smash into one of the bolts of lightning, the neko back flipped away. As she landed from her last flip, she flashed away once more.

Reappearing several feet above him with her hands outturned, she called out "Bakudō 21: Sekienton!"

Red smoke instantly engulfed both the neko and hawk demon, leaving the pair essentially flying blind. The hawk demon was instantly on edge over the action with his eyes searching frantically through the smoke for his rival. At the same time, the neko landed onto the ground gracefully and became perfectly still.

Drawing her right hand up in front of herself with both her index and middle fingers held together. Eyes fluttering shut, she softly started chanting.

"Carriage of Thunder. Bridge of a spinning wheel. With light, divide this into six."

Her eyes suddenly snapped open as she declared "Bakudō 61: Rikujōkōrō!"

Six beams of light suddenly formed around the hawk demon. The light from the beams instantly caught his attention but left him little time to react. Each of the six beams formed into six blades and suddenly shot straight into his sides and ensnared him with a blade on each side. The six blades connected up and tightened slightly so that they formed a thin circle.

Fighting to free himself, Sasuke's eyes picked up on the sight of the neko hanyou approaching him. Finding her eyes shut, he frowned at the action and continued to try to free himself.

"It's useless, Lord Sasuke." Lilly stated as she opened her eyes to reveal cold emerald orbs.

"You can't hold me forever!" the demon lord snarled.

Turning away and taking a few steps in the opposite direction, the neko whispered "I know that."

Seeing her vanish, the hawk demon was about to shout at he when he suddenly gasped. Eyes focusing on a blinding light blue light that was beginning to pierce through the cloud of red smoke, he caught a glimpse of the ice demoness's fierce white aura flaring about while light blue energy was building up within her outstretched left hand. She was using her right to brace her left hand while her sword was dug into the ground beside of her.

"It's over, Lord Sasuke." Yoshe stated in a calm, cool voice. Focusing her power into her left palm, she yelled out "Hadō 88: **Hiryugekizokushintenraiho!"**

**Out of her palm shot a massive blast of electrical energy in the form of a huge beam. The massive beam shot straight towards a wide eyed hawk demon. Flooring within the room was ripped asunder by sheer magnitude of power being put out by the attack. The very foundation of the castle seem to rock from the sheer destructive power, causing stones, roofing, and other building essentials to crumble within the room.**

**Flashing out of the way of the falling debris, the neko hanyou found a safe place beside her partner and quickly used a spell to shield the pair.**

"Bakudō 37: Tsuriboshi."

Shooting a ball of blue energy out of her right hand, the neko watched as the energy expanded and fired six energy ropes out and secured to the walls of the throne room in six different locations. The ball then expanded into a large cushion like figure that was stretched out and held in place by the energy ropes.

The spider web like barrier managed to keep the two fighters from having any debris raining down on them and ensured that the last of the massive beam of light blue energy would be released. Finishing the attack, the ice demoness was left panting heavily and fell to one knee.

"Yoshe!" Lilly worriedly asked as she moved to her side. "Are you alright, Yoshe?"

Nodding her head, Yoshe managed to rasp out "I'll be fine. Using high level Kidō without incantation is a bit taxing on my body, but it's nothing to worry about."

"_Amazing... She just used a level eighties spell without the incantation and her aura is still mostly unfazed. Yet she's passing it off as if it's nothing. I would need the incantation if I would ever want to release such a spell. It just shows me how far I have to go._"

Standing back up and drawing her white sword from the ground, the demoness swung it out to her right side. The ribbon followed the movement and flowed about beside of her.

Sliding her emerald eyes shut and blocking out the world around her, the neko started focusing her senses on the place where the hawk demon had once stood. Ears twitching, she heard sounds that made her brow furrow, followed by the scent of seared flesh. At once, her eyes snapped open with surprised and worry in her features.

"It can't be..." Lilly whispered.

Sensing the same thing instantly, Yoshe murmured "He couldn't have survived that."

Without warning, some of the smoke that had been hiding the figure of the demon lord was dismissed by a foul purple aura pouring out into the remainder of the room. Bolts of light blue energy sizzled through the air and gave off a chirping sound.

Unwillingly taking a step back, the neko focused her sharp eyes on the figure that stood with his body still encased in the six blades of glowing energy.

The body of the demon lord was being shielded by a large gray hand that had webbing between it's fingers and gave it more of wing like look. Each of the fingers of the wing had elongated claws and the webbing was covered in numerous sharp spines. A few spines appeared where the knuckles of the hand would be, but only one at each knuckle was present.

Revealing he could move, the demon hawk's wing that extended from behind his right shoulder pulled back to reveal his face. It too had partially changed, along with the skin revealed under his shirt near his shoulder. It was covered partially in a gray flame like tattoo that ran over a portion of his face to nearly his nose and enveloped around his eye. His right eye now had a black sclera while his red iris remained the same.

"Chidori Nagashi."

Upon his words spoken, bolts of light blue lightning flared off the hawk demon's body and slashed through the golden blades of energy that held him in check. With all six blades broken, he stepped forward a few steps. Flipping his sword around to a normal hold, he swung it out to his left side.

Watching the demon do so, the neko and ice demoness noticed that half the blade of his katana was now missing.

Without warning, the bolts of lightning that had been surrounding his body vanished. At the same time, the grayish flame design on his face glowed red and started shrinking away while the wing sticking out of his shirt sucked back into his body. His eye returned to normal color as well, leaving only the red iris with comma like marks in it. Simultaneously, the sword in his hand started lengthening back to it's original form.

"How did you survive my spell, and once more, what was that transformation?" Yoshe coolly asked while a small trickle of sweat ran down the side of her face.

Chuckling to himself as he smirked at the pair, Sasuke remarked "It seems you do not know of my heritage. If you did, the answer would be somewhat ..."

"You're not a pure hawk demon. Your mother was a lightning demon while your father was a hawk demon clan leader, making you a half lightning and half hawk demon."

Finding it was the neko who had made the statement, the demon lord retorted "So you know? I must admit it's surprising you know such a fact, Lady Lilly. Tell me, whom told you this information?"

"Sorry, trade secret." Lilly slyly replied. "I answered your riddle so answer Yoshe's questions."

Shrugging off his opponent's gruff words, the demon lord coolly said "You were correct about my parentage. My father mated with a lightning demon, my mother. She was his second mate and I was not to become the heir to the clan. My elder brother, Itachi, was supposed to, but things changed."

"My brother died prematurely due to an illness. He was the more powerful between himself and I, but in the end, I was made heir since he could no longer perform such a task. Naturally, the Uchiha Clan did not accept this fact. I, a non-pure hawk demon, was to become clan leader of the mighty Uchiha Clan, a clan that had much pride and prestige in it's heritage. I didn't care what the elders thought, and when I succeeded my father, I informed them of said fact."

"It is because of my mother's lightning powers that I've become the powerful demon I am now. My clan is capable of using fire elemental attacks, but with me, it's different. I inherited her power and thus have power over lightning element."

Pointing at the ice demoness with his sword, he added "Your attack on me just moments ago was of lightning element. Though it was a spell, it still consisted of lightning element. My body is more capable of fending off lightning elemental attacks due to my mother."

"That alone didn't protect you." Yoshe pointed out. "Even a lightning demon would have had great difficulty dealing with my Kidō spell."

"You're correct." Sasuke conceded. Patting his chest, he said "My body is resistant to lightning element attacks, however your attack had quite a bit of power behind it. That's why I diverted away a portion of the attack with Chidori Nagashi. The remainder I shielded myself against."

Growing impatient but remaining on edge, Lilly asked "And the transformation we saw?"

"The 'transformation' you speak of was a partial release of my zanpakutō's Resurrección."

"Partial release?" a surprised neko questioned. Glancing towards her partner, she asked "Have you ever heard of such a thing?"

Speaking up before the ice demoness could respond, the hawk demon interjected "It is a rarity among demons whom use Resurrección. I admit, doing a partial release is difficult. I know of only one other demon that has ever achieved such a thing."

"As for the specifics of the release, it is as it sounds. I'm certain you noticed half of my sword was missing when I had taken that form and it then returned afterwards. It does not require me to verbally speak the release command of my sword since it is not a true release and it happens whenever I will it to."

A bit unsettled at the statements, the neko and ice demoness let out mild grunts but kept their expressions unchanged.

Placing the sword into his right hand, the demon lord took slow steps towards the pair and declared "Prepare yourselves. This will be the end of your lives."

Both fighters instantly noticed lightning starting to flare down the hilt of the sword of the hawk demon and immediately tensed. Breaking rank, the neko launched forward to engage the demon lord.

Taken back by her rash decision, Sasuke raised his left hand while lightning began to coat it and the loud chirping sound filled the air. He formed his fingers into a spear like hand sign and raised it up quickly. A blade of lightning suddenly extended out from his fingers as he thrust it forward toward where the neko's heart lied within her chest.

Lilly immediately focused her eyes on the dangerously sharp beam of lightning. She quickly ducked under it just as it had sped up, but wasn't without consequence. In the dodge, she had been inflicted a slight wound to the top of her right shoulder. Ignoring the slight pain she felt, the neko pressed onwards until she realized the blade was now moving towards her once more, but this time in a horizontal manner.

Throwing herself out of the way just in time, she didn't have any time to react as suddenly a secondary sword like blade sprouted out from the original and was headed directly for her face.

"Hadō 1: Shō!"

Hearing the words declared by her partner, Lilly suddenly felt an invisible force throw her backwards faster than she was initially moving. Skidding to a stop over ten yards away, she saw the blade stop without warning, as if it could extend no further. Glancing over at her partner, she saw her racing in towards their opponent, sword drawn and prepared to fight.

"Yoshe! His reach is nearly eleven yards, maybe less. Be careful!"

Wordlessly nodding in reply, Yoshe continued charging forward. Seeing the hawk demon looking at her with a bored expression, she slightly smirked before flashing away. Reappearing a few feet behind him, she swung her blade out to the side, sending the ribbon rippling through the air.

"Some no mai, Tsukishiro!"

Glowing underneath the hawk demon's feet instantly was a circle of white demonic energy. The energy shot upwards and encapsulated him much to his surprise in a tower of ice.

Leaping several feet away, the ice demoness readied her blade, saying "Don't underestimate my speed, Lord Sasuke. You bragged it was too slow to capture you in our last bout, but I never said last time that I was moving as fast as I could."

Pointing the white blade at the pillar of ice, she declared "My mate may have not taught me how to handle a sword but he did see fit to train me on how to increase my speed."

Bolts of lightning and a loud chirping sound started filling the air and sliced through the icy tower. Freed from his tomb of ice, the hawk demon glared fiercely at the ice demoness before suddenly leaping backwards to put some distance between himself and his adversaries.

"How stubborn." Sasuke disdainfully stated. Dismissing the lightning flaring around his body, he clutched his blade tightly and muttered "It seems I cannot kill you two as easily as I thought."

Sickly purple aura instantly engulfed his body and sent his hair and clothing spraying about. At the same time, both women's hair and clothes did the same from the foul wind being generated by the demon hawk's aura.

"I have no choice but to stop holding back. Prepare yourselves, for this is your end."

000

000

"SHARD STORM!"

Bursting forth from air as he slashed horizontally with the dog hanyou's icy blade was a series of icy daggers that were each sharpened to perfection. The daggers cut through the smirking water demon's body with little resistance and sent his body spraying about the battlefield like the many times before.

Knowing a sneak attack would follow, the hanyou watched the halberd of his foe start moving behind himself and into the reforming hand of the demon lord. Spinning around, he parried an attack meant to cut him down as a trickle of sweat began forming down the side of his face.

"Is this battle too much for you, half breed? Just hurry up and die so you can have your eternal rest!" the Southern Lord arrogantly declared.

Pushing off from his foe and taking up a defense stance, Iya suddenly felt his body becoming heavily as he panted lightly. With the air on the battlefield frigid due to his sword, small puffs of his hot breath could be seen. A bit of blood continued to trickle down onto the ground with a small slashing sound due to the numerous smaller wounds littering his body.

"_I can't keep this up forever. Originally I thought I could wear him down with my attacks since it has to take a reasonable amount of energy for him to regenerate his body, but that idea seems to be failing. I keep launching attack after attack and he still regenerates like it's nothing. At this rate, Ketsaiga will reach its limit for how long I can hold its icy state long before he loses a sufficient amount of power to give me the edge._"

"Done already, half breed?"

Broken from his thoughts by the taunts of his foe, the hanyou barely had time to dodge a thrust meant to pierce his chest. Flashing away, he recovered several yards away and readied his counter attack.

"Shard Storm!"

"That pathetic attack again?" Aikamaru muttered in a bored tone. As his words escaped his mouth, a shower of ice splinters rained down upon him. His body was ripped asunder, leaving nothing behind but a pool of water and his large halberd yet again.

Reforming into the water demon's body, the pool of water vanished like usual. Drawing his weapon up over his head with one hand, he smartly said "Allow me to show you what a true attack looks like."

Slashing downwards at an angle, the demon lord yelled out "Suisei Kattā!"

Flying away from the swinging blade was a wave of water that quickly took form of a crescent moon. The tip of the blade dug into the ground and was cleanly cutting through it leaving a trench a foot or so deep in it's wake.

Reacting to the attack, Iya drew Ketsaiga up over his head and slammed it hard into the ground. Frosty steam poured off the blade as he called out "Ice Barrier!"

Arising to protect the hanyou from the tip of the halberd was a wall of ten foot tall ice that was a few foot in width. The wall was solid and stood glistening in the sunlight. It gave off the impression of an impenetrable defense.

That impression was shattered as the wave of water cleanly cleaved through the wall of ice before dispersing. Tumbling downwards at an angle was a portion of the wall. Once more, what was more in surprise to the hanyou was the fact the blade had managed to nick his shoulder and left a shall gash in it. Cringing from the pain he lowered his head so that his eyes were hidden by the shadows of his bangs.

All at once, the icy defensive wall tumbled to the ground. Chunks of ice scattered across the floor of the roof.

"It is useless." Aikamaru stated in a smug tone. Pointing his blade at the hanyou, he added "You see just how weak you are, right half breed? At my leisure you could be lying dead at my feet. I merely toyed with you up to this point, mostly to see what that puny brain of yours could come up with to combat me."

"I must admit, I'm quite disappointed at what you have shown. You disappoint not only myself but your father's fang. It is the only reason you have lived as long as you have. Why former Lord Inutaisho would have protected such a weakling like you is beyond my comprehension. He wasted all that time on a mere half breed, thinking that you of all people could learn to protect the lands that you hold so dear to your family."

Snorting, he growled out "Polluting his bloodline was your father's worst mistake. It is his fault that his family line has been reduced to two half breeds that rely on his power just to survive and a weakling son who has fallen in league with such lowly creatures. Just the thought of how you turned Lord Sesshomaru into such a pitiful human lover makes my stomach turn."

"But I'm about to change all that. After I kill you, I shall dispatch your brother to join your father and yourself in Hell. Soon all the weak and pitiful creatures known as humans shall fall and I rid Japan of their kind for all time to come. Then I shall become the supreme ruler of the Four Lands and no one will dare to challenge me!"

Weakly raising his head to look into the eyes of his foe, Iya couldn't help but flinch as his wounds made him wince. Falling to a single knee, he became silent.

"I will put you out of your misery." Aikamaru stated as he sauntered over to in front of the hanyou with his blade poised on his shoulder. Lifting his blade while he cruelly smirked, the demon lord coldly said "This is the end, half breed. Farewell."

Raising his blade high up over his head, the Lord of the South sent it flying downwards towards the body of the hanyou.

Without warning, the cleaver sword was stopped by a single hand of the dog hanyou. Blood leaked down from where the blade had cut into his hand slightly and dripped to the ground in a soft pattern.

Throwing more weight into his sword and trying to force it to cut through his opponent's hand, the water demon found he could not make it budge. "Just accept your fate and die half breed!"

"My fate?"

Raising his head up to reveal his now blue-green slit irises that were engulfed in a sea of red, Iya slowly stood and grit out "My fate is not to die here. It is to stop you once and for all!"

Shoving roughly against the sword he held, the hanyou sent the water demon skidding backwards several yards away. The wound on his hand where he had held the sword sealed itself shut and healed over with a misty steam pouring off of it. Taking in a deep breath and closing his eyes, he reopened them to reveal they had returned to their normal muddy brown color. The icy sword in his right hand pulsated once, giving him more than enough reason to charge forward.

"It's useless." Aikamaru stated and parried a powerful strike from his foe.

"I'll be the judge of that! Cold Wave!"

Frosty steam poured off the icy blade of the dog hanyou. A thick coating of ice immediately covered the sword of the water demon and then proceeded to lock his body away within it.

Panting lightly as he leapt backwards to put some distance between himself and the iced over form of the demon lord, the hanyou fell to one knee in exhaustion. "_Ketsaiga can't take anymore of this punishment. It's at it's limit. Damn, now what do I do!_"

Suddenly feeling a pulsation from the blade in hand, he eyed the sword in surprise as it seemingly called out to him with another pulse. "_Ketsaiga..._"

Once more pulsing, the sword seemed to release even more frosty steam than before. Iya's focus was ripped away when he heard crackling ice. Spotting his foe had almost freed himself, he forced himself back up onto his feet and raised the steaming halberd back up.

Ice shards shot out in all directions without warning as the water demon came flying out from his icy tomb and mounted a crazed charge. "THIS IS THE END!"

Sensing another pulsation coming out of the ice coated sword, Iya mentally replied "_Alright Ketsaiga, we'll try it your way. You've never led me astray previously and I know you won't here!_"

Doing what he felt his sword instructed him to do, he leapt backwards into the air and narrowly avoided avoid his opponent's sword. Icy steam began pouring off of the ice coated blade as a swirl of wind with ice and snow formed around it. The very air on the battlefield seemed to become much colder than it ever was.

Drawing his blade up over his head, Iya called out "Take this: Cold Wave!"

Sneering at the declaration, Aikamaru smugly retorted "You're a fool! That is a close range move! It will never work."

"Let's find out!" Iya declared as he swung the sword downwards.

Cutting through the chilled air, the icy sword slung a beam downwards towards the arrogant water demon. His eyes instantly widened when he saw the approaching attack. The demon lord tried desperately to avoid it, but it was far too late for such actions. Slamming full force into his body, the blast froze the water demon solid and effectively stopped him in his tracks.

Landing deftly on the ground, Iya looked down at the icy sword and noticed a swirling wind made up of ice and snow encircled the blade portion. As well, the cool air escaping from it made him shiver slightly. The air reminded him of the only other time he had felt such coolness.

"Ketsaiga..." he whispered. A pulsation suddenly erupted from the sword.

Sensing what the sword was urging him to do, he faced towards the statue of ice that was once the demon lord. Noticing the body of his foe was still frozen, he rushed forward and stabbed the sword into the frozen body of the water demon. Pulsing once as its energy built up, the hanyou suddenly made a declaration.

"Wind Slash!"

The statue of ice that was the frozen body of the water demon exploded instantly, sending shards of ice scattering along the roof of the keep. Leaping back a short distance, the hanyou noticed that the shards were thoroughly scattered about.

A few moments passed before the shards melted into water and the water started pooling back together into a single form. After what seemed like an eternity but was merely a minute, the water demon rose back up, but unlike before, it was obvious having had to reconstruct himself had taken its toll.

Visibly winded, Aikamaru stood back up to full stature and pointed his blade at the dog hanyou, asking in a demanding tone "What was that just now!"

Lips twitching into a small smile, Iya smoothly replied "That would be Ketsaiga's ice powers at long last maturing."

"Maturing?" Aikamaru asked aghast.

Nodding in reply and holding his sword horizontally before his body, Iya remarked "It is. You see, Ketsaiga originally did not have it's ice powers. No, it only had the power to use the Wind Slash originally."

"My father gave me Ketsaiga when I was only fifteen after an incident that had unleashed my demon blood and left me broken up over it. Ketsaiga as you probably are already aware of is the sister sword to Tetsusaiga. Both have ties to the wind element. This is why both have the ability to use the Wind Slash and Wind Scar. During my first year of possessing Ketsaiga, I worked on learning the Wind Slash technique and to wielding my new sword."

"Around this point and time, Totosai, the creator of Ketsaiga, came and told me that it could learn another element. He suggested that I infuse it with ice powers due to my own natural ability to control ice, much like my mother could. Both he and my father discussed from whom I would fight to get the ice element. To get it, I had to face a demon that said element and kill them with my sword. Ketsaiga would then absorb that demon's powers and make them it's own. After that, should I ever cross blades with another ice powered weapon, Ketsaiga would absorb it's powers also."

"Finally, after much research and speaking to many sources, my father sent me to visit to a friend of his by the name of Wonrei Tekken. I learned upon reaching his home that Wonrei was a powerful ice demon that had lived for over one-thousand years. Even though he was that old, he still looked amazingly young, even by demon standards."

"We talked for quite a while, mostly about life and what we thought the future held for demons, humans, and hanyous. Several times during the conversation, he would take a coughing fit and a few of those times I knew I saw blood on his hand, not to mention I picked up its coppery scent for certain. He would not explain what was wrong and merely pass it off as nothing."

"After a few hours of talking, Wonrei stood and said it was time before walking away. I didn't understand what he meant really by his words, but I soon learned what he spoke of."

Sadly smiling, he pressed on and said "Wonrei unleashed a sneak attack with Shard Storm. I barely dodged the attack and demanded to know what he was doing. He didn't answer me and continued his onslaught against me instead. It was all I could do to avoid his attacks."

"For over an hour, we battled with me barely finding any openings to counterattack. When I could get a shot in, he would merely block it with a wall of ice that was a stronger version of Ice Barrier. However, it was very apparent to me that Wonrei was pushing himself to his limit and then some during the fight. He would often begin taking coughing fits towards the end, but they would pass and he would proceed to fight even harder than before."

"In the very end, it was just pure chance I landed the final blow."

000

000

Deftly dodging another burst of ice daggers that would have ripped him to shreds, Iya found shelter behind a cavern wall and leaned up against it. His heavy breathing allowed large puffs of heated air to be seen in the dim light. Blood trickled down from several shallow wounds on his arms, legs, and cheeks from where the ice shards had found their mark. Wiping a bit out of his eyes, he tried frantically to slow his breathing and calm his mind.

"_This might never end. He seems to never run out of energy. In the meanwhile, I'm getting tired and I can feel my body starting to grow numb in certain places. The extreme cold combined with the loss of blood is going to be my undoing if I don't find a way to stop him soon._"

Hearing loud coughing and a bit of splashing, the hanyou chanced a look at his foe. Over fifty yards away was a demon that appeared to be a young human, but upon closer inspection one could see the pointy ears. His white hair reached down to his mid-back in length and had a spike like look to it. Pale lavender eyes seemed to reveal a calmness. The clothing he wore was a simple white top that was buttoned shut and had yellow bands to hold it together. His pants were plain white also and ended at his ankles where black shoes covered his feet. Yellow outlined the top's hem and the hem of his sleeves.

At the moment, another coughing fit overtook him. There was blood leaking out of his clasped right hand and a pained expression on his face. Holding his hand away, he stared at it momentarily before flicking his hand to knock the blood back off.

Returning himself to the security of his hiding place, the hanyou was left to his thoughts. "_He said that coughing was nothing when I first arrived, but I've slowly begun to think something is seriously wrong with him. Demons hardly ever get sick, and when they do, none that I know of cough up blood. So what is happening to him?_"

"Iya."

Hearing his voice called, he kept hidden in his position and readied his sword as he heard footsteps starting to approach.

"You can't hide forever. If you want to escape, then flee and cling to your pitiful life. It will only end at the hands of another one day. We both know that demons and humans can never get along nor live together. So why should it differ for the acceptance of hanyous? Why not show some backbone and face me and die in a glorious battle. Perhaps Kami will have mercy on your soul then after what you have done."

Blood boiling and pulse thundering in his ears, it took every bit of self-control of the dog hanyou had to not leap out and attack the ice demon head on. Forcing himself to calm down a bit, he realized suddenly that he held his sword so tight that his hands were white knuckled. He relaxed his grip a bit and reached out with his senses to find his foe.

"_Wonrei is trying to get me angry. If I lose my head and give into my anger I'll be a dead man shortly thereafter. I have to remain calm or else it's over._"

Hearing the ice demon's steps getting closer to his location, the hanyou silently muttered "_I can't keep dodging like this forever. My only chance is to launch a counterattack right after he attacks me. Doing so won't be easy though. I need to time this just right._"

Launching from his position, the hanyou found himself suddenly under attack by a cloud of icy daggers. Using his sword to block most, he raised his blade up over his head and swung it down with all his might.

"WIND SLASH!"

Ready for his opponent's counterattack, Wonrei held out his right hand with his palm pointed at the beam.

"Ice Barrier."

Raising up to his defense was a thick wall of ice that easily withstood the burst of white demonic energy. The blast at long last burned itself out and the wall of ice crumbled away.

"Nice attempt but not good enough. Cold Wave."

Seeing the incoming attack Iya hastily leapt out of the way as the beam of icy energy struck the place where he had been standing. In mid-air, he saw the ice demon now was sweeping his hand through the air, signifying the start of another familiar attack.

Coldly, Wonrei declared "Shard Storm."

As the ice demon spoke, Iya countered and swung his blade at the same angle. "Wind Slash!"

The two opposing attacks smashed into one another with the white beam holding the ice shards off seemingly. A few managed to sneak through, but few and far.

Hearing the ice demon taking another coughing fit, the hanyou took the chance for an opening and slashed out with a second blast. "Wind Slash!"

The second beam slammed into the original attack that was defending him and pressed it forward. With the ice shards at last thinning down to nearly none, the twin attacks moved back towards the weakened ice demon.

Realizing the danger he was in he raised his left hand to block the attack, only to take yet another coughing spell. Pushing what power he could into his left hand, he feebly said "Ice Barrier."

Ice rose up to the aide of it's master and put up a wall instantly. The ice tried to hold back the twin blasts of hot white demonic energy, however, they were proving to be a bit more than the wall of ice could handle. Cracks were rapidly forming and small shards were starting to break off more and more rapidly. All at once, the wall collapsed and the heavy handed blasts smashed into the ice demon.

Watching the attacks at last settle, Iya approached the fallen form of the ice demon very carefully. Reaching him, he saw that Wonrei's top was torn open and he had a deep wound in his chest where the blast had scored a hit. Crimson life force of the ice demon poured out into the floor of the cavern, effectively staining it red for many years to come.

Cracking a weak smile, Wonrei whispered "I knew you would find a way to win."

"I don't understand." Iya murmured as he moved to stand beside the form of the ice demon. "We talked earlier about the relations of demons, humans, and hanyous, yet you said they cannot live together during our fight. Why Wonrei, why did you fight with me? And why did you lie to me from the start?"

"I didn't."

Confused, the hanyou picked up the scent of salt and saw tears sliding down the cheeks of the ice demon unchecked.

"I have lived for over a thousand years and seen many things. Demons slaughter humans because we feel vastly superior and many choose to eat them in order to live. Others hunt them for sport, saying that we are truly the ones that shall rule forever. In turn, humans fear us and come to hate each of us."

Rasping a bit, he pressed on and said "I once lived as they did. I hunted humans for sport, thinking that they were weak and should die. That was until I met her..."

Faintly smiling, the ice demon let a few more tears flow out. "She changed me for keeps. She was the first human to show compassion towards me and to make me realize that humans were not the weak frail creatures I had once believed they were. No, they have strength that demons can never understand. She made me learn that much on that fateful day. From then on, I swore that with every fiber of my being I would protect humans, and that I would protect her."

"You fell in love with her?" Iya asked in surprise. "_I've only heard of a few demons falling for humans. It's so taboo among demons, yet it does happen._"

Mutely nodding his head as he tried to swallow, Wonrei rasped out "Yes, I loved her. Li-En dedicated her life to me, and I to hers. Even though in the end she died because of us being together, we had no regrets. Since then I have longed to leave this world and join her, but I could not when there was much to do still yet. She wouldn't want me to leave just because I missed her. So I continued to linger on in a pitiful state."

"I then became sick and realized that my time was coming soon. However, before I died, I wished to pass on my powers to someone who would use them to protect those close to them and not to use them for destruction. Your father told me about you, how you had suffered because of your demon blood taking control of you and doing heinous things. How that you deeply desired to make a change and vowed to protect those around you at all cost. I realized it then that if I could lend you my powers, you could perhaps use them to make a difference in this world, to use them to protect someone you care about. So I made my choice."

"I told your father to have you come here and face off with me once you were ready. I can't say I was disappointed. True, my body is not at it's pinnacle due to this ravenous disease, but that doesn't matter. You gave this old demon a fight that he dreamed of for many a years."

Letting out a ragged chuckle, he added "It's strange, laying here dying, I realize now that it is not demons nor humans that will encourage relations with the other. No, it is hanyous that will do so. Hanyous can see things through both sets of eyes. That is what makes all of you so special in the end. You understand both sides and have the ability to settle things once and for all."

Voice failing, Wonrei looked up at Iya and motioned him to come closer. Getting down onto one knee, the hanyou leaned close and watched the ice demon reach out and touch his sword.

"All that I am, I give to you. Use this power well Iya. Save those close to you and protect those that cannot. You can do this much, I'm sure."

A touch shocked at the words of the ice demon, Iya looked down into his face to see a peaceful expression on his face. Faintly smiling, the ice demon whispered "Li-En, I'm coming for you..."

His words said, the ice demon's eyes closed one last time. His chest stopped rising and his body went rigid. Looking down at the demon's hand, the hanyou noticed his grip was loosening on his sword. Pulling it away, he felt Ketsaiga pulsate and suddenly coat itself in ice. Frosty steam poured off the blade while the ice crackled.

Looking back down at the ice demon one last time, Iya bowed his head, saying "Thank you."

000

000

"Wonrei's death allowed Ketsaiga to grow stronger. His words remain buried within my heart still yet, along with his actions. They spoke clearly to me."

Shifting the sword in front of himself, he added "I returned to my father not long after that and started training with Ketsaiga. However, what I found when I used it's ice powers was not what Wonrei had shown me in our battle. The icy abilities of Ketsaiga were a far cry from the very dominating power that I had seen in my fight with Wonrei. No, the abilities were nothing even close to what he had shown me."

"Confused, I travelled to see Master Totosai about it. He explained to me that though Ketsaiga had absorbed Wonrei's powers, that did not mean I had gained his true power. I would have to train to master them, and in due time, they would return to the form Wonrei had had."

"Over the course of nearly three-hundred years, I have pushed myself beyond my original limits to what I could control of Ketsaiga's icy powers, but they had yet to reach the level that Wonrei was at. That was until this battle. Now at long last, Ketsaiga's icy form has matured and I can now use it's ice powers to the full limit."

Drawing his sword up closer to his body and crouching down a bit, Iya coldly said "Prepare yourself, Lord Aikamaru. The true battle begins now."

**Thanks everyone for reading the chapter. Now, if you could do me a kind favor and review to let me know what you think of the chapter, I'd appreciate it.**


	25. Chapter 25: Counter Offensive

**Hey there everyone! Been such a long last few weeks. Work has been hectic like always, plus with one coworker searching for another job, things just seem to be that much more stressful due to the uncertainty that would follow after him leaving. I don't blame him looking for work, but similarly, it puts myself and the other person in the office in a strange predicament due that we would be the last two here. Due to that fact, I've kept my eye open for anything else in the reasonable area that I could do, but living in Central WV doesn't really bode well for prospects. Other than that, this past weekend was a well deserved break from everything. My mate and I had a good time at a get together at my dad's house where most of my dad's side of the family came in. I ended up playing cards with my dad, two uncles, and second cousin. Heh, we eventually played a game with partners after my second cousin left where I was on the same team as my dad. Oi, we suffered badly, lol. Won two games out of six, and that was the last two at that, but oh well, it was fun. Not much else happened. We visited my mate's family the next day, and Monday, we just relaxed at home. Some stuff got done around the house, but we mostly were lazy Monday. Anyways, life otherwise is about the same. Busy like always.**

**I apologize for getting off sequence with the chapters. I think I was supposed to post last week, however, due to being late on the previous chapter, I didn't do it. I'm hoping from this week hence I will be on sequence of every two weeks again. I'll do my best to hit that timeline like always, but it's been rough on getting chapters wrote up. Stuff is bidding on my time and writing seems to take a backseat at times. No worries though, I'll do my best to keep up with it.**

**Thanks to both Katana and alex 988 for your reviews. I really appreciate both of them.**

**alex 988: Glad you really liked the back story battle between Iya and Wonrei. Ketsaiga's ice powers was never really explained when I started the series and it didn't dawn on me till **_**Descending Twilight**_**. I decided to do a little catch up on that part during this story, and it seemed to fit in perfectly during the last chapter. I'm glad you like Iya and Lilly. As for the next fic I'll work on, I think I'm going to change it from Yugioh GX to Yugioh 5Ds. We'll see though. I need to finish this up, and there is possibilities that that story may happen even later if things align right.**

**Thank you once more to both reviewers. Well, that does it for me. Enjoy!**

**Meanings for certain words:**

_**Mō fubuki burittsu = Blizzard Blitz**_

_**Hai bōei = Ash Defense**_

**Chapter 25**

"Just because that sword got stronger does not mean you will defeat me." Aikamaru hotly stated with a sneer.

In a flash, Iya had his sword drawn back to his right side and cocked in position to strike. With a mighty swing horizontally, he yelled "Shard Storm!"

Watching the hanyou performing his attack, the water demon stood his ground believing he knew what was coming. Instead of what he thought would be a similar amount of ice daggers that he had faced previously, it was now a much larger concentration of bigger ice daggers. The daggers rained down upon his position before he could do anything and sent his liquid body scattering about.

Tracking his foe trying to reform his body, the hanyou was quick to draw Ketsaiga up over his head and swing it down while calling out "Wind Slash!"

A beam of white demonic energy scored a direct hit on the exact spot where the demon lord had started to regenerate his body, causing the liquid of his body to once more go spraying onto the roof.

Slithering across the roof, the water droplets quickly found a safe place to pool back together and reformed the body of the Southern Lord faster than usual. Enraged beyond reason and hatred spewing from his eyes, he charged towards the hanyou with his blade drawn up and ready to strike down his foe. The pair's blades clashed with extreme fierceness that sent an aftershock throughout the top of the massive stone building.

"I WILL NOT BE MOCKED BY A HALF BREED!"

"You don't need me to do that." Iya sharply retorted.

Further angered, the demon lord pushed off and leapt backwards. Doing so, he drew his sword up over his head and swung it downwards at an angle and screamed out "Suisei Kattā!"

A wave of water in the form of a crescent moon rolled off of the demon lord's halberd and moved to mow down the black haired hanyou.

Drawing his own sword up over his head, Iya slammed it into the ground before him and called out "Ice Barrier!"

Sprouting up from in front of the icy blade was a three foot thick wall of ice that was well over nine foot tall. The wall had frosty steam pouring off of it and gave off an aura of invincibility.

The powerful water blade struck the icy defensive wall hard and fast, but instead of cutting through it like it had previously done during the battle, it fizzled out and vanished, leaving only an inch deep gash in the ice behind.

"No way..." Aikamaru incoherently whispered.

"Pressurized water."

Stepping out from behind the ice wall with a confident look on his face, Iya stated "That's what your technique is. The first time I saw it I wasn't sure, but this second time I'm certain. An impressive attack, let alone difficult to use I'm sure."

Gnashing his teeth and about to yell, the water demon was cut off as the hanyou suddenly leapt backwards to in behind his wall of ice.

Stabbing Ketsaiga into it, Iya called out "Mō fubuki burittsu!"

Breaking apart instantly, the ice wall seemingly exploded and shot a storm cloud of sharpened ice daggers straight at the water demon. Thousands upon thousands of the shards cut through him and turned him into nothing but a pool of water.

Flashing away to where his foe lay and trying to reform, the hanyou drew his sword up over his right shoulder and slammed it hard into the ground. "Cold Wave!"

The droplets of water and the small pool of it were instantaneously frozen in place.

Not finished, the hanyou raised his sword up once more to his right side with only his right and hand and slashed through the air in the direction of the frozen pool and droplets. "Wind Slash!"

Propelling towards the frozen water demon the beam of white demonic energy sent the multiple drops scattering further throughout the roof of the keep. After a few moments, the droplets thawed out and started recollecting themselves into one pool.

Rising back up and panting lightly, Aikamaru deeply growled as he glared at the hanyou. In a fit of rage, he raced towards the hanyou and raised his large sword up with both hands up over his head before launching into the air.

"NO HALF BREED PIECE OF TRASH WILL BEST ME! SUISEI KATTĀ!"

Swinging his blade downwards, the water demon shot out a crescent moon shaped blade of high pressured water. He adjusted his sword and swung twice more, sending out two more blades of water at two more different angles.

"Ice Barrier."

Unaffected by the incoming attacks and giving off a cool and calm collected demeanor, the dog hanyou flipped his sword around so that the blade faced him with a flick of his wrist. Touching the ground with just the tip, a thick wall of ice sprung up to his defense.

The three blades of pressurized water smashed into the ice barrier, with each trying to carve through it. Instead of cutting through, each only inflicted a mere inch deep wound into the wall and did almost no damage.

Flashing away and suddenly reappearing a few yards behind his opponent, the water demon yelled "I knew you'd do that! Take this!"

Glancing behind himself with an annoyed look, Iya saw a blade of high pressure water coming straight at his back. He simply let out a light grunt before flashing away himself.

Drawing back his sword out to his right side, the hanyou swung it through the air. Flowing from the blade of his weapon was a stream of ice that took the form of a long sinewy dragon with red glowing eyes and sharp teeth. The ice flowed forward and let out a roar like a dragon would before snapping it's jaws down hard so that it had swallowed the demon lord. Continuing forward, the ice dragon smashed it's head into the ground, causing the frozen demon lord to shatter along with it.

Several moments passed before the chunks of ice that were the body of the demon lord started defrosting. The water created collected together and reformed into the form of the water demon.

"That is not your attack, half breed. Explain!"

Cracking a small smirk at the furious water demon, Iya held Ketsaiga out and asked "Remember what I said earlier when I explained about how Ketsaiga achieved it's ice powers?"

Not receiving a response, the dog hanyou smoothly said "After Ketsaiga had gained it's ice powers, whenever I cross blades with another ice powered weapon, my sword absorbs that weapon's powers also."

Noticing the demon lord's eyes widen a fraction, he continued on saying "That attack you just saw a moment ago, you were right, it wasn't mine. It was one Ketsaiga learned when I crossed blades with one of The Thirteen: Tōshirō Hitsugaya."

"He was the lone ice demon of The Thirteen, but his powers were amazing. The sword he wielded was called Hyōrinmaru. It was..."

"Wait, that blade was a zanpakutō! It's impossible for you to have taken it's powers!" Aikamaru yelled.

Shaking his head and slightly sighing, the dog hanyou remarked "Not really. The mechanics of a zanpakutō maybe foreign to me but the fact it has ice powers made no difference. It was rumored to be the strongest ice type zanpakutō to be in existence. Still, Ketsaiga was able to copy all of it's abilities and make them it's own. That attack I just used a few moments ago was the very same attack Hitsugaya used against me. True, I'm not as proficient at using the techniques he had, yet I can use them. In fact, up until this battle, I've never used any of the powers Ketsaiga has gained over the years from other demons in a battle. To be frank, there are only two demons whom I've fought that had ice type weapons."

"Then you have all his abilities!" the demon lord demanded.

"Yes."

Shifting his sword into a ninety degree angle in front of himself with the blade facing away from himself and slowly sliding his eyes shut, Iya added "Tōshirō Hitsugaya wasn't the only one to wield an ice weapon that I've fought. This next one was carried by someone whom I have sparred with."

Tightening his stance and sword pose, he quietly said "Some no mai, ..."

Flashing away but quickly reappearing four yards away from the demon lord with his sword swung out, the hanyou opened his eyes and coolly said "Tsukishiro."

Underneath the water demon's feet, a massive circle that ended just at the heels of the dog hanyou formed and began glowing ominously. Ice crawled up the demon lord's legs and encased his feet before he could react. Without warning, a beam of white light shot upwards and engulfed himself and the sky in a tower of ice. A few moments passed until suddenly the tower broke apart in sections and crumbled to the ground, leaving nothing behind but large slabs of ice.

Turning to find portions of the ice starting to thaw itself and create water once more, the hanyou patiently waited as the water demon's form slowly reappeared with him panting lightly.

"That move came compliments of Lady Yoshe of the Western Lands. Her zanpakutō, Sode no Shirayuki, is said to be the most beautiful snow and ice type zanpakutō within the Western Lands. It may not be as powerful as Hyōrinmaru but it's power is quite terrifying nonetheless."

Pointing the tip of his sword at the demon lord, Iya sharply said "You cannot continue to reform your body forever, Lord Aikamaru. Each time you have to unthaw your body and regenerate it, you lose precious demonic energy, and judging by your aura, performing this combo is starting to take its toll on you. There is no need to continue with this battle. Surrender and order your troops to stand down. I give you my word, they will be spared and you will be given a fair trial for the crimes you have committed."

Teeth gnashing loudly, the demon lord turned blazing eyes upon the form of the dog hanyou.

"Me surrender to you..." he hissed through clenched teeth. His entire body shook from what looked like an intense look of anger surging from him. "I... I..."

All at once, the sickly purple aura of the demon lord burst out from his body and caused a fell wind to gust across the keep's roof. At the top of his lungs, he let out a deafening roar. Blue hair whipped around his frame and sent his top underneath his armor flapping. Simultaneously, the hair and clothes of the dog hanyou did the same, though his ponytail held together and did not free itself from it's purple ribbon binding.

"I WILL MAKE YOU PAY FOR YOUR INSOLENCE!"

Settling as suddenly as it had appeared, the purple aura vanished and sent out a small shockwave like breeze. Taking in a deep breath, the demon lord slid his eyes shut before opening them to reveal he had recollected himself.

Darkly chuckling as he shifted his sword up onto his right shoulder, Aikamaru coolly said "I can't believe you humiliated me in such a manner. I, the Lord of the Southern Lands, humbled by a mere half breed. It's so sickening to believe that you have this kind of power."

A moment passed before he added "Perhaps I misjudged you earlier on, Iya Taisho."

Surprised to hear his name properly stated by the demon lord, the hanyou began to speak but was cut off.

"It is difficult for me to admit it, but perhaps you are stronger than I originally thought. Because of that, I acknowledge you and your power. That fang of your father's has awarded you more power than I could have imagined. And not just his power, but your own it seems. To think that such a blade could be wielded by a half demon is surprising to say the least."

"But if you think I am done with our bout, you're wrong. I will not be bested by a mongrel."

"Don't let your pride blind you." Iya ground out. Returning to a calm composure, he added "You and I both know that at this point and time you cannot continue to counter Ketsaiga's matured powers, nor the ones I have collected from others. Continuing is pointless."

Sneering as he turned away and walked several yards before looking over his shoulder, Aikamaru smugly replied "That's where you're wrong, half breed. Up until now, I've used only my own strength and not the power that I have sealed away within my zanpakutō."

"That's a zanpakutō?" the dog hanyou questioned as he ran his eyes over the halberd.

"Yes, it is, half breed." the demon lord stated with arrogance resonating from his voice. "I told you before that Kubikiribōchō was my master's sword, but I neglected to inform you that it was also his zanpakutō. Whenever I defeated him, I sealed away his power into it and made it my own weapon. Then like any true demon with a zanpakutō, I had it made into one that contained my Resurrección."

"Do you understand now, you insignificant worm! I've merely toyed with you throughout this battle without having to resort to using my true power against an inferior opponent. To think I would have to release my true power to deal with someone as weak as you is maddening, but to show that I acknowledge you, I do so."

Spinning around to face his hanyou foe, the water demon sneered and said "Behold a power that you will only witness once."

Holding his zanpakutō out so that it pointed at his opponent and gripped it with only his right hand, the demon lord coolly said "Drag him under, Kubikiribōchō."

Purple demonic aura suddenly surged into the air as the body of the demon lord became engulfed by it. His entire body transformed into pure water and a sphere of it surrounded it. Swirling faster and faster around him, the water sphere became like a protective barrier to shroud it's master from view.

As quick as the water sphere formed, it soon dispersed and shot water out in all three-hundred-sixty degrees of view. Standing where the sphere had once hid him was the water demon, but his form was completely altered from before. His body was completely translucent and made up of sea green water. Rippling muscles filled his frame and made him appear more buff. He had grown nearly a foot in height and had on no clothing any longer, though the water seemed to give him some modesty. Held in clawed fingers was a large trident made of water, but appeared to be more solid than the remainder of his body. Seven tentacle like tails swung back and forth from behind him. His head was changed as well, with it now taking the form of a eel like creature with eight light blue eyes and four fin like structures hanging off of the sides of his face.

Staring down the new form of his opponent, Iya couldn't help but feel a touch of worry creep into his mind. "_He wasn't lying about holding back. His demonic aura increased tenfold after he released his sword. Then there is that form. Before he seemed solid but in reality he was made of water. It's as if he reverted back to a true water form. What that means for me, I'm not sure._"

Shifting his stance, the released water demon darkly chuckled. "You seem surprised, half breed trash. Is this the first time witnessing a true demon's release?"

"No."

"Then those you saw up until me were weak. Now you face a true opponent, one with the power of water at his command."

A slight grin appeared onto the hanyou's face as he lowly chuckled. "You talk as if you've won this battle already, Lord Aikamaru. Have you already forgotten that you claimed I wouldn't last more than a few moments earlier in this fight? I'd think you would be more leery than to make such accusations."

Sneering, the water demon suddenly flashed away. He reappeared a brief second later directly in front of the dog hanyou with his trident plunging deep into the chest of his foe. A sickening thud and sloshing sound hit the air and the overwhelming scent of copper wafted up to the stunned half demon.

Looking down at his chest, Iya saw the trident buried up to the brim of the three blades. A pained and surprised look filled his eyes as they slowly began to glaze over.

"Weakling."

000

000

"Witness firsthand that which only few of my opponents were fortunate enough to see. It is time for me to cast you two aside and grind you into dust."

Shifting slightly, Lilly kept her facial expression even though internally she worried what the words the hawk demon had spoken. "Do what you must, Lord Sasuke, but we'll stop you."

"You cannot intimidate us with your threats." Yoshe chimed in as she took up a hard stance.

Placing his right hand over his face but leaving his mouth revealed, Sasuke cruelly smirked as he dragged the hand away. Loud insane laughter erupted from his mouth as he did so and threw back his head. Brandishing his weapon in front of himself with the sharp blade of his sword turned towards his foes, he slid his eyes shut and coldly said "This is the end. Farewell."

All at once, he roared "Soar through the air, Taka!"

Purple aura engulfed his body immediately and veiled him from the outside world. Slowly, the aura faded away to reveal a pair of gray skinned webbed hand like wings hiding the main body of the hawk demon. Each had a set of spines on them and sharp claws on what looked like the fingers of the hand like wings. A moment passed before the wings pulled back to reveal the new form of the hawk. His hair was longer than previously and seemed to have spiked out a bit and taken on a blue hue in the light that burst into the remains of the throne room. The very skin color of his body was the same color as his wings, a shade of gray. It was revealed that the white top he had once worn was now pulled open and trailing down his backside due that he had taken it off. The muscles in his chest rippled with power and exposed just how well defined they were. His eyes still had the same red irises with black commas, however, they were now more pronounce due to the black sclera. As well, his lips now had a purplish color and fangs poked out from them.

Stretching his wings while flexing his clawed hands, Sasuke smugly asked "Do you think you will still win now?"

Taken back by his statement, the pair of women shifted nervously.

"_His very aura is frightening. What a dreadful feeling I'm getting just being this close to him. I can feel the terror and power behind it, yet at the same time, strangely enough, I can't help but think Yoshe and I will still win this, no matter what. He may have raw power in this new form, but even so, we can't give up. We made a promise to one another to go home together to our mates and I aim to keep that promise, no matter what._"

"YOU WHORES WILL NOT HAVE MY LORD SASUKE!"

Ears swiveling towards the sound of the angered voice, Lilly instinctively flashed away and looked towards the doorway to the throne room to find the panting form of Chikako bounding into the room. Finding her partner had followed her, the pair watched the buxom take up a defense stance nearly ten yards away from the demon lord while she brought her broken sword in front of herself and lowly growled.

"I warned you before that you cannot have him! Lord Sasuke, forgive my failure to stop them earlier. I underestimated the half breed and was knocked unconscious for it. My deepest apologies, my lord."

Without warning, a sickening sloshing sound hit the air and filled it with the coppery scent of fresh blood. A strangled gasp escaped from the buxom blonde's lips as her crimson life force slowly leaked down and off her chin to the ground A weak cough erupted from her, spitting out more of the red liquid.

Looking down at her chest, she saw a blade of lightning energy sticking a foot out of her chest with blood seeping out while at the same time the sound of loud chirping filled her ears. In a bewildered, shocked, and betrayal filled look, she glanced back at the demon lord behind her.

Staring indifferently at her with his left arm raised and the lightning blade coursing through her body, Sasuke coldly said "Chikako, you are completely useless. Why should I care for someone as weak as yourself? I never wanted you, nor did I ever intend on making you my mate. You were the key to controlling those fools in Amestris and making certain that they never betrayed me like they had planned to. Even a dumb whore like you should realize you were never anything in my sight other than a means to controlling your village."

Shaking while tears rolled down her cheeks, the buxom released her hold on her sword as a strangled whimper escaped her lips. Suddenly, she found herself hoisted into the air by the demon lord's lightning blade.

"Now disappear. You have defiled my bed for long enough."

A strangled escaped from Chikako's lips when suddenly six lightning blades shot out from her body. The pain was visible in her horrified eyes as they glazed over. Without warning, her body exploded as lightning energy flared out from it. Blood sprayed throughout the remains of the room and stained it's once pristine floors crimson.

Horrified by the display of brutality, Lilly felt herself shaking uncontrollably from the deep seated anger she felt towards the act she had just seen. She fought desperately to keep from charging the demon lord on instinct, knowing doing so would only endanger her own life.

"You bastard..."

Retracting his lightning blade and dismissing it with a swing of his arm, the demon lord sneered at the two women and said "You should be thankful I rid the Western Lands of yet another enemy. Those fools within Amestris planned on killing everyone ruling the Four Lands. Their numbers are low, but I did not wish to underestimate them. Hence when that whore came to me with an offer have an allegiance, I would have been a fool to turn them down. It gave me the perfect opportunity to keep a closer eye on them. True, I used Chikako for it, but she practically handed over all of the secrets of that village and had one desire in mind: to become the Lady of the Eastern Lands. Too bad she never knew that I had no plans of giving her anything. She really should have realized that being a whore does not earn you your heart's desire."

About to retort, the neko was cut off by her partner in an icy tone. "Lord Sasuke, you will regret your actions here today. In the name of justice, Lilly and I shall stop you."

"Don't make me laugh." Sasuke snorted. Flashing a bored expression at the pair, he added "In my Resurrección form, neither of you have the power to stop me any longer. Before I had released you may have had a slim chance of defeating me, but it is useless from hence forth. I maybe merciful if you both swear your allegiance to me."

"What, so we can become your concubines like Chikako! No thanks!" Lilly hotly retorted.

Chuckling lowly, the demon lord remarked "No, I would never think of taking one like you, half breed. Lady Yoshe on the other hand would perhaps make a fine concubine. Tell me, my lady, have you ever felt the desire to ..."

"Enough of your forked tongue." Yoshe stated as she brought her weapon into a new stance. "I will not be talked down like that, nor will I stand by while you disgrace my sister."

"Sister?" Sasuke mocked with a mirthful expression on his face. "You consider this half breed your sister? Perhaps you are far less intelligent than I gave you credit for. To think of this trash as your sister is beneath you."

"I will be the one that decides what is beneath me. Lilly is my sister, whether you like it or not."

Shrugging off the comment, the demon lord readied his clawed hands and said "A true pity you think that way. It is thinking like that that has caused demons to lose the power we once had."

"It is thinking like that that will become the bridge that brings humans and demons together to an understanding." the ice demoness boldly stated. "And the bridge itself is made up of those special enough to be part of both worlds: hanyous. True, they are not human nor demon, but something more than either could ever be. It is for that reason I truly see Lilly as my sister. She is special and it is that specialness that will help bring understanding to our two sides."

"Yoshe..." Lilly whispered in surprise.

Throwing a warm look at the neko, Yoshe affectionately said "We have a promise to keep, right Lilly."

Remembering what the ice demoness was talking about, the neko nodded her head and replied "I know. Let's finish this up so we can keep it."

"Touching, really, but whatever promise you two made is about to be broken." Sasuke blandly stated.

Moving forward slow at first, the hawk demon suddenly picked up speed and raced head on towards the two women.

Flashing forward with katana drawn up, Lilly intercepted the demon lord first. Taking a chance, she slashed out at him repeatedly. Each of her slashes were deftly evaded and forced her to slide backwards to take a moment and plan her next move.

"_His power has increased judging by his aura. I can tell also his speed is just at the same level, if not just a touch higher than before. He wasn't lying about being stronger._"

Ignoring the worry starting to fill her mind, the neko charged forward again. Like before, she continued to send a series of slashes and stabs at her foe, only to have him evade them like the last time.

"Is that all, half breed?"

Vanishing but reappearing immediately a few yards up in the air with her katana leveled out horizontally in front of her, Lilly fiercely replied "I'm just getting warmed up! Hadō 31: **Ōkasen!"**

**Flaring out in the center of neko's **zanpakutō was a golden orb of light. The light suddenly lengthened to the full length of her weapon and shot forward a powerful wide arcing beam.

Not bothering to evade, the hawk demon drew up his left hand and sent lightning energy flaring across it to create his Chidori Blade. With a simple swing, he slashed the beam of energy in half, with each half striking the ground beside of him.

"Bakudō 63: Sajo Sabaku!"

Eyes widening a fraction at the sound of the neko's voice, the demon lord had no time to react as a thickly wound rope of yellow demonic energy ensnared him. The rope wound itself tighter and tighter around his body, keeping him grounded and from raising either arm or his wings.

"Ye lord! Mask of blood and flesh, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! On the wall of blue flame, inscribe a twin lotus. In the abyss of conflagration, wait at the far heavens."

Shifting so he could look over his shoulder, the demon lord spotted the neko hanyou with her right hand held up in front of herself as she had her eyes shut during the chant. Stabbed in the ground next to her sat her sword.

Eyes snapping open and throwing her two arms out before herself to where her wrists were pressed together and her palms facing outwards towards her foe, Lilly proudly declared "Hadō 73: Sōren Sōkatsui!"

Roaring out of her palms was a swirling beam of light blue demonic energy with power purely radiating from the intensity of the light.

Realizing his predicament, Sasuke's aura flared to life as bolts of light blue energy struck the rope that bound him. After only a millisecond, one of the bolts severed the rope holding him and enabled him to break free from the remainder. With only a mere second left to defend himself, he used his wings as a defensive wall while pouring out his Chidori Nagashi.

The spiraling beam met the lightning shield head on and was slightly pushed upwards. It mattered little as the attack managed to push on through and hit the tops of the hawk demon's wings. Passing by it's target, the beam smashed through one of the remaining walls of the castle and tore it down in the process.

Panting lightly as she stared at the pair of webbed hands protecting the demon lord, Lilly felt herself slightly sway but caught herself quickly. Biting her lip, she lowly growled as she saw the hawk demon peel away his smoldering wings.

"Not bad there, Lady Lilly. Perhaps you do possess strength greater than I gave you credit for."

Suddenly feeling the temperature drop dramatically around his feet, the demon lord only had a second to look down before he realized the ice demoness was at his back with her sword swinging away from her body gracefully.

"You should remember you have two opponents. Some no mai, Tsukishiro!"

Ice suddenly shot up and enveloped the demon lord from the glowing white circle beneath his feet, effectively capturing him.

Moving up to beside the hanyou, Yoshe concernedly asked "Are you alright?"

"Fine." Lilly flatly remarked as she drew her sword back up. "He is too."

Confirming her remarks immediately was the sight of lightning flaring from the ice tower. The tower suddenly shattered to reveal the freed demon lord from within.

Sneering at Lady of the Western Lands, Sasuke coolly said "I see you're not afraid to attack someone from behind, Lady Yoshe. Even I must admit, I lost sight of you due that I was more preoccupied with the half breed. My first and last mistake."

Noting her partner was still panting, Yoshe lowly whispered in a scolding tone "Don't keep pushing yourself like that. Using high level Kidō will only wear you down faster. The more level sixty and seventy spells you use, the more power you'll end up using. Stick to lower level spells if you are going to use them with or without incantation."

"I know." Lilly mumbled in a near growl. Straightening her form and pulling her sword from the ground, she added "But we can't afford to hold back in this fight either. I saw an opening and had to take a chance on it. We need to continue to expose such openings or else he will beat us."

"I understand Lilly, believe me, but pushing yourself to your breaking point this early in the fight will only hurt you in the end. We cannot afford to be careless."

Understanding the concern coming from her partner, the neko let out a audible sigh before hardening her emerald eyes on the hawk demon. Shifting into a low stance, she suddenly seemed to vanish, but the eyes of the demon lord easily tracked her.

Spinning around, he ducked her attack from behind. Again and again, the neko slashed out at him, each slash getting closer and closer to actually hitting his body.

Retreating a bit, the neko's eyes narrowed when she saw the familiar lightning energy swirling around the hawk demon's left hand. Watching him raise it up and shoot a blade like sword from it, she readied herself, knowing the attack would come hard and fast.

"Chidori Blade!"

Surprised a bit, the neko found the hawk demon's attack shooting towards her and him chasing after her as well. Realizing evasion wasn't an option against said attack, she did all she could do.

"Bakudō 39: Enkōsen."

Flaring to life in front of her sword that she held in a defensive manner was a golden energy disk like shield. All at once, the energy disk began spinning like a saw blade.

Smashing into the energy shield at the center, the lightning sword ground against it and put extreme pressure on it. The force the blade was hitting the shield forced the neko to start sliding backwards.

Eyes widening in surprise, the neko noticed her shield starting to crack at the point of contact with the hawk demon's lightning generated sword. The blade suddenly pierced through and shattered the golden barrier like it was nothing and continued onwards towards her chest. In a rash decision she managed to shift her body in a desperate attempt to evade, only to get her right shoulder pieced by the attack.

"_Shit, he can take my arm!_"

"Looks like you're done, half breed!"

"Not if I can help it!" Yoshe screamed as she came in from the left side of the neko with her sword drawn up over her head.

Sneering at the desperate attempt to save the hanyou, Sasuke smugly retorted "I knew you would try something. Let's see you block this! Chidori Blade!"

Sprouting out from just an inch or two from the neko was a perpendicular energy blade that shot straight for the ice demoness's chest.

Changing her stance just in time, the demoness managed to block the attack with her own katana, however, the sheer power from the attacking weapon made her own sword start creaking. Sensing the danger, she flashed away just as her sword was split in two.

Taking the opportunity to recollect herself during the distraction, Lilly raised her left hand up and yelled out "Hadō 54: Haien!"

Roaring forward in a direct line towards the hawk demon was a blast of violet colored demonic energy that had an aura of destruction about it. At the last second, the demon lord disengaged his blade of lightning energy and deftly avoided taking the blow.

Flashing to a safe distance and falling to one knee while panting heavily, dropped her sword to the ground and reached up to touch the wound in her shoulder. Wincing as she did so, she sensed the ice demoness come up alongside of her and drop to her own knees to examine the wound also.

"Are you alright?"

Still panting heavily as she removed her hand from the wound, the neko muttered "Barely. My entire arm is numb from where he stabbed me. It'll probably wear off but who knows how long that'll take. I got careless."

"You did what you thought you had to." Yoshe comforted.

Eyeing the broken zanpakutō in her partner's right hand, she muttered "Your sword is broken because of my recklessness."

"Don't worry about it." the demoness passively commented. "The only thing that matters is you can continue, right?"

"I guess."

Loud insanity filled laughter broke apart the two's talk as the pair turned their attention to the demon lord. His eyes revealed mischief and intent to purely kill them.

"I think it's time we end this battle, Ladies of the West. I can't think of a better way than to blow you away with my ultimate attack. Think of it as my last show of respect for the courage you have shown in this fight."

The demon lord crouched down low before suddenly leaping up into the air with his wings beating to help raise him higher. Finding a suitable stationary point, he started a series of high speed hand signs. Finishing them at long last, he sneered down at the pair and held his left hand high up into the air.

The very sky seemed to respond as massive dark clouds poured in over the castle. Rain fell to the ground and soaked it with its cleansing power. All at once, lightning streaked across the sky while loud thunder boomed.

Lightning energy started pouring out from the demon lord's hand as lightning began flaring throughout the sky more and more. It even started striking the ground repeatedly in different areas of the battlefield and the castle itself. All at once, a loud boom of thunder echoed, making the neko flatten her ears to her skull.

"Come!"

Erupting from the clouds without warning and moving to directly behind the hawk demon was a massive dragon made up completely of lightning. The very jaws of the dragon had massive teeth revealed with sharp fangs that pointed upwards at the front of its mouth. Crimson red eyes peered down at the pair of women with no emotion reflecting in them. Massive whiskers waivered about its face, giving the dragon a sagely look. Its massive long sinewy body had a few smaller clawed hands on it and gave the dragon the appearance of a Chinese dragon.

"Meet Kirin." Sasuke proudly stated while sneering down at the pair. In a cool voice, he slowly drawled "This attack brings down thunder from the heavens. I merely direct it's power towards you."

Picking up her dropped katana, Lilly was slow to her feet but kept a calm expression on her face as she stood. Internally, the sheer power she sensed from the dragon had her frightened, but she did her best to hide the fear and overcome it. Clutching her sword's hilt tightly, she glanced down to see the blade shaking slightly.

Eyes fluttering shut, she inhaled deeply and felt herself drifting into her inner world. Finding the large ash cat spirit that was her zanpakutō spirit sunning himself like always on a large flat rock within the oasis surrounded by desert that it called home, she softly asked "_Will you lend me your strength, Haineko?_"

Taking in the seriousness of his master, the ash cat took little time to ponder on the subject and nodded his head without a second thought. "_Yes, my strength is yours, Lilly._"

The neko immediately woke from her inner world with her eyes snapping open and resolve reflecting within her emerald orbs. "Roar Haineko."

With the command given, the blade of her sword dissolved into an ash cloud up to the guard and immediately began encircling both the hanyou and her partner protectively. The ash seemed ready to react to any attack.

"Oh, so you're going to use your zanpakutō at long last. It won't matter at this point and time, seeing how Kirin will destroy you in an instant." the demon lord stated.

Throwing a look of determination over to her partner, the neko slightly nodded her head towards the ice demoness. The nod was met with one of the demoness's own as she drew her broken katana up and out in front of herself.

"We will not be bullied into submission, Lord Sasuke." Yoshe stated. "Do what you must, but we will stop you."

"Brave words, Lady Yoshe." Sasuke mockingly commented. Shifting his left hand and doing a waving motion towards the dragon, he commanded "Vanish with the roar of thunder."

The very movement of his hand caused the massive dragon to roar loudly and draw itself back up into the cloud bank, leaving behind only bolts of lightning to signal it had been there.

Making another hand movement, he thrust his hand downwards towards the pair of women. This signaled the dragon that was laying in wait to launch from the clouds towards the pair.

"Hai bōei!"

Swirling about quickly, the ash followed it's master's commands and formed a sphere like defensive bubble to protect the pair of women from the incoming electric attack.

The attack was over in less than a mere second with the blast slamming into the barrier and the pair within it. A large portion of the castle was obliterated in an instant from the blast, leaving nothing by debris and smoke in its wake. Numerous demon, hanyou, and human servants and guards were killed before they even knew what happened, their bodies simply fried to a crisp until they turned to dust.

Panting heavily in mid-air as he gradually descended to the ground, the demon lord rested his hands on his knees as he at last landed. Staggering forward a few steps, he quickly recovered his posture and felt the fatigue of the battle setting in.

"Finally, it's over."

"Don't ... be ... so sure." a faint voice declared.

Riled and on guard instantly, the hawk demon forced himself to regain his posture and stared intensely into the dust that hid where his foes once stood. Focusing his vision, he caught the outlines of the two women standing still.

"You couldn't have survived that..." Sasuke whispered, shock visibly in his tone. Shaking his head roughly, he snarled out "IT'S IMPOSSIBLE! NO ONE COULD SURVIVE KIRIN!"

Smoke and dust settling, the neko and ice demoness revealed they were still plenty alive. Their clothes were covered in the dust, but they were both seemingly unharmed. The neko fell to one knee and desperately tried to calm her heavy breathing to no avail. At the same time, the ice demoness was panting somewhat deeply herself but kept her weapon ready in case of attack.

"YOU SHOULD BE DEAD! HOW! HOW!" Sasuke screamed.

Ears plastered to her head, the neko muttered "Could you be any louder?"

Lightly chuckling at her partner's words, Yoshe coolly replied "Here is how we did it."

000

000

"Now Yoshe!"

"Bakudō 81: **Dankū**!"

Flashing up four feet above the sphere of ash in a forty-five degree angle immediately was a large rectangular barrier that was translucent.

"**Dankū! Dankū!"**

**Two more solid translucent barriers formed directly behind the original rectangular barrier and added yet another two layers of protection.**

**The electric dragon barreled straight through the first barrier with relative ease, however, some of its speed and power was lost. Similarly, the second barrier managed to withstand the attack for only a split second before shattering and leaving the third behind to defend. Smashing through the next barrier, the electric dragon at long last had a clear path towards the ash sphere that protected the pair of women.**

**Jamming the broken blade of her sword into the barrier, the ice demoness summoned up her **zanpakutō's icy powers and poured them out. A thick wall of ice started covering the inside of the sphere, granting the pair yet another barrier to weather the attack with.

Slamming roughly into the ash cloud, the dragon tried to bore through but found it a much more difficult chore than the previous three barriers had been. Electricity blazed about the area surrounding the barrier due to the raw power the barrier had in keeping its occupants safe. The dragon let out one last roar as it made a final effort to bore through. Ash began spreading across the floor from where the attack was starting to gain traction, however, the ash remaining focused more on the breaking points and tried to fill in the gaps. Behind the ash, the ice seemed to press forward to support the ash even more so, giving the dragon more trouble in penetrating the defensive sphere.

The dragon suddenly lost all of its energy and vanished from the battlefield at long last, taking with it the dark clouds.

000

000

"And there you have it, Lord Sasuke. Even your sharp eyes couldn't intake what you saw due that your dragon blocked your viewing of that confrontation. Sorry to disappoint, but we're still alive and we intend to continue fighting." Yoshe defiantly stated as she drew her broken zanpakutō out in front of her body.

**Thanks everyone for reading the chapter. Now, if you could do me a kind favor and review to let me know what you think of the chapter, I'd appreciate it.**


	26. Chapter 26: Final Blast of Fury

**Hello again everybody! Life has been so filled with stuff going on. First off, I found out I'm going to need some training for a new project going on with work, which is cool and all, however, it requires me to be away from my mate for a week. I'm not too fond of being away from her for long periods of time. It sucks for both of us. We both hate being apart, but there is no way around it. Hopefully we'll make it through it. A good thing that has happened is the owner of the company I work for gave me a really nice raise this year due that I've been here five years, so good things do happen if you're patient. Plenty of stuff going on at home, at my dad's, etc. Just staying busy, like always.**

**My deepest apologies on this chapter being late. Ugh, I just didn't get it done like I wanted to this weekend. I thought I'd be done Friday, but no dice. So, I pushed back to Saturday, then Sunday, then Monday. And you see how that ended as of today, lol. At any rate, I'm so sorry for being late. I'm trying hard to get these chapters cranked out, but it's just been a bear to do so recently and it doesn't seem to get any better. I will try though.**

**Thanks to Katanna, auronsword, and alex 988 for your reviews. I'm pretty sure I replied to the first two, but for alex, here is yours.**

**alex 988: Thanks about this chapter. It was a lot of fun to work on. As for **_**Eternal War**_**, we'll see how it goes. I think it will be a 5ds story since I'm watching it. I originally didn't like the thought of the series, but the more I watch, the more I kinda have gotten into the plot and story line. Still find dueling on motorcycles strange, but not as strange.**

**Alright gang, hope you like the chapter. Till next time, enjoy!**

**Meanings for certain words:**

_**Raiton Kage Bunshin = Lightning Release: Shadow Clone**_

_**Atsui hai no torunēdo = Hot Ash Tornado**_

**Chapter 26**

"Do you seriously think you can beat me with that stub of a sword? Don't make me laugh, Lady of the West. We both know it's useless for you to fight me with that broken weapon." Sasuke brashly commented. "You say you will defeat me even with a weapon that has obviously had it and can no longer continue. Tell me, what good does a useless tool do anyone?"

Receiving no response immediately, the demon lord declared "Nothing at all is what! To fight you must have power, and to gain power, you must take it. I have done so my entire life."

In a calm, cool voice, Yoshe replied "You say you've done nothing but take power your entire life. That is not true power. True power comes from the strength within and the will to protect that which is most precious to you."

"Oh, don't tell me you're going to spout that garbage I've heard so many of you Western Land people say. I expected better from a true demon."

"You can mock true power, but tell me this, what has your power ever gotten you? Do you have true friends, ones that would risk their lives for you should you be in danger? Or do you have no one that would protect you should your life be on the line?" Yoshe questioned.

"I have no need to protect anyone." the demon lord coldly answered. "Only weaklings need others to protect them. The power I have gained came from my desire to become a far stronger demon, one that stands the test of time and can rule others. I believe I have proven that fact by gaining power over the years and eventually, I overcame Yomi and became the Lord of the Eastern Lands. Now the Western and Northern Lands fear my power, along with the Southern."

"Lord Aikamaru will only betray you in the end." the ice demon pointed out. "He will not allow someone with ambitions like yours to remain."

Chuckling lightly, the hawk demon remarked "I know oh too well that Lord Aikamaru intends to be rid of me at the first chance he has. It wasn't hard to figure that much out."

Confused by his statement, the demoness asked "Then why team up with him?"

"He is yet another means for me to gain power. That is all. Like that whore I kept about, I'm using him to position myself for greatness. Lord Aikamaru will continue to wage this war against the Northern and Western Lands, but once he is done, I know he will set his sights on the Eastern Lands. That is why I have held back some of my better troops. It was in hopes that he would use up more of his and weaken his own stance while mine remained the same."

"But enough talk." Sasuke suddenly stated. "I have many things to do besides listen to you prattle on about protecting people and what so called 'power' you have. Now come at me, if you dare to, though I doubt you can do much with that broken tool."

Glancing down at her sword for a moment, the ice demoness coolly remarked "Sode no Shirayuki is not some tool. She is my trusted partner, one that I place my faith in and trust with my very life. As for her being broken, you are wrong yet again."

Sliding her icy blue eyes shut for a moment, the demoness called forth her white demonic aura that caused her clothing to rustle slightly. Opening her eyes to reveal a serene calmness within them, she evenly declared "San no mai, Shirafune."

Frozen air suddenly stirred within the room and sent a chilling breeze about. Ice particles from the previous chunks of ice floated about and came to the beck and call of the ice demoness. Bit by bit, the particles condensed together where the tip of the sword once was and reforged the broken half of her white katana. The very air seemed to chill even more so as ice spread across the room and coated the floor in a thin sheet of ice.

Raising her newly reformed weapon up, Yoshe swung it out to her right side and stated "My Sode no Shirayuki cannot be destroyed so easily."

"Lord Sasuke, to continue is pointless. You know as well as I do that your last attack weakened your aura drastically. I would be willing to bet you used up half of your power in that attack in hopes that it would kill both Lilly and myself. It failed and you are now weaker than before. To continue this fight would be pointless."

Silence filled the air for several moments till the demon lord lowly chuckled before all at once bursting out loud laughing with insanity filling his laughter. "Pointless! What would you know of pointless! I can crush you easily, along with that half demon, at any time!"

Raising her sword up and taking a back stance, Yoshe countered with "Then you leave me no choice, Lord Sasuke. I will finish what Lilly and I began."

Flashing forward in a blur, the beautiful demoness reappeared a few feet from the demon lord and attempted to plunge her freshly repaired weapon through his skull. He managed to shift his head to the side just in time as the tip of the blade scraped against his cheek and left a minor scratch on it.

Hearing the chirping sound of his lightning, she reacted quickly and managed to dodge an attack meant to impale her. Launching forward, she flashed away once more to reappear directly behind the demon lord with her sword held out to her right side.

"Some no mai, Tsukishiro."

An ice tower instantly sprouted up from the ground and engulfed the hawk demon within it's icy confines. Lightning erupted from the tower moments later as he escaped the icy tomb.

"Your ice is powerless against me."

Turning her head to glance over her shoulder at the hawk demon, the demoness remarked "And you are slowing. How long do you think you can keep this up, Lord Sasuke?"

"Don't mock me!" Sasuke hissed as he charged the demoness with his left hand coated in lightning and the loud chirping sound following afterwards.

Evading the attack with ease, the ice demoness put some distance between herself and the hawk demon before stabbing the floor before herself four times, leaving four glowing bursts of white demonic aura. Holding her sword up in a defensive stance horizontally while looking coldly at her opponent, she said "Tsugi no mai, Hakuren."

Blasting forward like an avalanche was the snowy wave of the ice demoness. The wave's target moved at the last moment, narrowly missing him by inches.

Charging the demoness, the hawk demon formed his lightning blade and made a stabbing motion to pierce through her heart. Seeing the attack clearly coming she leapt backwards and dodged the sharp lightning blade of energy. Flashing away, she reappeared high above him with her katana held in her left hand and right hand pointing directly at him.

"Bakudō 1: Sai!"

Feeling the involuntary response to her spell forcing his hands to be pushed behind his back, the demon lord fought against it and attempted to not give into it. Distracted from his opponent, he never had a chance to react to her next spell.

"Bakudō 4: Hainawa!"

Wrapping around the hawk's body and forcing his arms to be pressed to his sides suddenly was a golden ribbon of energy that wound tightly and gave him no room to maneuver. He looked up to find that the second spell had been cast by the still kneeling neko.

"Why you..."

Cutting him off as she landed beside him, Yoshe softly said "Bakudō 61: Rikujōkōrō."

Six blades of golden demonic energy suddenly formed a circle like ring around him and held him completely in place.

Placing her right hand on his back, she coolly said "Bakudō 63: Sajo Sabaku."

Wrapping around the hawk demon's body instantly was a thick rope like chain that wound tightly and reinforced the two previous spells. With his arms effectively bound, he struggled to break free but quickly found he could not do so like he originally thought he could.

"RELEASE ME!"

Taking up a position ten yards away in front of the demon lord with her icy blue eyes slid shut, she slowly reopened her eyes to reveal a hardness and coldness he had yet to see in them. Yoshe raised her left arm up high as a black and purple demonic aura roared to life and engulfed her body completely within it. Her hair and clothing rustled from the massive aura and caused the same to happen to the hawk demon.

"Seeping crest of turbidity. Arrogant vessel of lunacy! Boil forth and deny! Grow numb and flicker! Disrupt sleep! Crawling queen of iron! Eternally self-destructing doll of mud! Unite! Repulse! Fill with soil and know your own powerlessness!"

Still holding her left hand up high in the air as she finished her chant with the dark aura swirling around her body, she yelled out "Hadō 90: Kurohitsugi!"

Rising upwards and forming around the body of the hawk demon was four black walls that pieced themselves together piece by piece. They continued to rise higher and higher, square by square. At long last, the walls completed their construction and the structure created was a large black rectangular building that was at least five stories tall. Jutting out from the sides at the very top, numerous sword like objects pierced into the building, giving it the illusion that the swords were going completely through and skewering it's occupant.

Stabbing her sword into the ground in front of herself to keep from falling, Yoshe leaned heavily on the white blade as she desperately tried to catch her breath. Sweat poured down the sides of her face and dripped to the ground. Shaking slightly, she raised her head up to look at the massive black structure she had created.

In a ragged tone, she quietly declared "It's at last over."

Cracks gradually started forming within the black structure until at long last it shattered like glass, sending debris littering the ground before vanishing.

Standing with his eyes wide and blood pouring down his body from the numerous wounds covering his form, the hawk demon let out a pained gasp before falling to the ground unceremoniously. His body quivered slightly for a few moments before stilling.

Drawing her sword out of the ground and taking a few wobbly steps to in front of the demon lord, the ice demoness sadly looked down at the broken body of her opponent. "Lord Sasuke, this is the end."

"You ... are... right..." he rasped out. Without warning, he reached out and grasped her ankle with his lacerated clawed hand. Blood stained her kimono's hem, but that wasn't what caught her attention. It was the cold, calculating smirk on his face.

Suddenly, the hawk demon's body began pouring lightning out before she could react. The lightning stunned her and made her scream out in pain. While she did so, the body of the demon lord transformed completely into lightning. It continued to flow through the ice demoness's body and make her scream even louder.

"YOSHE! BEHIND YOU!"

It was too late to heed the words of the neko as she suddenly felt a sharp stabbing pain in her chest. Looking down, she saw a clawed hand coated in lightning energy and blood sticking out of it. The chirping sound coming from the lightning was overwhelming, along with the pain that accompanied the attack. Blood started leaking out from the corners of her mouth and dripped down off her chin to the ground.

"You are lucky I aimed for only a lung and not your heart, Lady Yoshe." Sasuke stated in a smug tone.

Coughing raggedly and trying to take in some air while at the same time unravel the mystery of what had changed the course of the battle, the demoness whispered "How?"

Darkly chuckling, the demon lord smugly said near her ear "You gave me opportunity. When you used your Tsukishiro, I was given a moment to create a Raiton Kage Bunshin. Sure, using that technique consumed half of my remaining power, but it was well worth it. Once I had created it, I was able to hide my presence while my bunshin continued the battle."

"I knew you wouldn't waste any time trying to dispatch him. However, I was surprised you went to the extreme of using such a high level spell to do so. If that had been me, this fight would have been over and you would be the victor. Things are funny that way, wouldn't you agree, Lady of the West?"

"LET HER GO!"

Knowing whom it was yelling at him, the hawk demon forcefully lifted the demoness off the ground by his hand still run through her and turned the two of them to face the hanyou. Letting a flare of lightning out through his clawed hand, he relished in the strangled gasp of pained erupting from the ice demoness.

"I SAID LET HER GO!" Lilly snarled. Her ash cloud circled her body rapidly, revealing it was more than ready to launch forward at a moment's notice.

"You are not in any position to make demands, half demon." Sasuke coolly remarked. "Do you honestly think you can save the Lady of the West? Tell me, can your ash beat the speed of my lightning? Lightning takes only a hundredth of a second to strike, so what makes your ash can reach me before I would kill her with Chidori?"

Clenching her hilt tightly with her lone useful hand, the neko hissed "It's over, Lord Sasuke! Let Yoshe go! You hardly have any power left after that last stunt you pulled, so release her!"

"You're not listening." Sasuke reprimanded. Sending another burst of lightning into the demoness he held hostage, he added "Your demands are pointless. I have the upper hand in this conflict, thus it is I who makes the bargain. Return your zanpakutō to it's sealed state and I may let her live, for now. Refuse and I'll kill her."

"_What do I do!_" Lilly screamed within her mind. Squeezing her emerald eyes shut as she felt the overwhelming feeling of being powerlessness filling her up. Looking at her sister-in-law being held as a hostage, the words of ice demoness rolled through her mind about the promise the two of them made before they had left for the final battle.

"_Both of us will live and return to our mates, no matter what._"

"_But here we are. I can't save her. Haineko is fast, but not that fast. What do I do!_"

"Kill ... us ... both Lilly..."

Emerald eyes snapping open, the neko looked in shock at the ice demoness. Her icy blue eyes revealed the just how much she was suffering, yet she forced herself to look up at the neko as she struggled to speak.

Shaking her head in complete shock, the neko weakly said "I can't... I just ..."

"This is no time to let your emotions get the better of you." Yoshe coldly stated. Softening, she added "Sesshomaru will understand."

"But our promise! I won't do it!"

"You put your faith in a weakling, Lady Yoshe." Sasuke interjected smugly. Sending another surge of lightning into the demoness's body, he sharply said "You would be wise to surrender, lest you wish to have the Lady of the West die because of your stubbornness. Of course, you could be pining to become the new Lady of the West, but they would be desperate to do so."

Eyes smoldering, the neko snarled "I would never wish that!"

"Then surrender, half breed."

"Do it Lilly. Kill us both!" Yoshe desperately pleaded.

"Yoshe..." Lilly whispered with tears forming in the corners of her eyes. Hiding her eyes with the shadows of her bangs, the neko silently wept as her left hand shook uncontrollably.

Seeing the hesitation in her sister-in-law, the ice demoness reached up without being seen and grasped hold of the hawk demon's wrist that stuck through her. Summoning up her white demonic aura, she poured cold air into her hand.

All at once, the lightning surrounding the demon lord's hand started fading until it at last dissipated completely.

"What the ..." Sasuke began until he felt the cold of the demoness starting to freeze the blood and skin of his left hand completely.

Viewing what Yoshe had done, Lilly suddenly felt a surge of confidence in her own abilities and shot forward at top speed.

Sensing the approaching neko, the demon lord attempted to send a blast of lightning into his hostage, only to find he could no longer do so. His powers reacted sluggishly and wouldn't respond the way he wanted to. Realizing he wouldn't be able to kill his hostage before his opponent arrived, he tried to rid himself of the demoness, only to realize she was holding onto his hand and keeping the two of them from separating.

"RELEASE ME WOMAN!"

"Never..." Yoshe whimpered.

Before he could argue, the hawk demon suddenly caught sight of ash flowing in front of him and around his left elbow. He noticed that the neko had her left hand raised up with the remainder of her sword tightly held and at an angle.

Swiping it downwards, the neko glared at the hawk demon as her ash cloud responded and sliced through his arm, severing it completely at the elbow joint and effectively freeing the demoness.

"Hadō 1: Shō!"

Throwing the demon lord backwards, Lilly swooped in and caught Yoshe before she could fall to the ground. Holding her tightly, she gently laid the demoness onto the ground.

Flashing away, she raced after the demon lord to find he was still trying to get his bearings. She reappeared directly in front of him with a look of pure rage reflecting in her emerald eyes while her ash cloud roared around her body.

"Bakudō 73: Tozanshō!"

Gasping as light blue energy appeared in a focal point just below his feet, the hawk demon watched in shock as four beams shot upwards at a similar angle. They soon interconnected with one another to form what looked like an inverted pyramid around his body. The beams soon released light blue energy to fill in the gaping areas, effectively trapping the demon lord within.

Skidding to a halt while heavily panting, Lilly hunched over and placed her one working arm on her left knee to prop herself up.

Watching this, Sasuke snarled out "I will not be caged! Chidori!"

Lightning flared to life within the demon lord's right hand and coated it completely in a matter of seconds, however, it seemed far too long for his taste. The lightning was a far cry from the vibrant energy he had been releasing earlier.

Pushing herself back up, the neko's right hand suddenly twitched to life. Flexing it, she found she once more had mobility within the hand, though her wound ached terribly. Ignoring the pain, she reached into her top and retrieved a small gourd. Tossing it aimlessly into the air, the ash cloud suddenly swallowed up the gourd and disintegrated it. It and it's contents immediately mixed within the cloud, giving it a dark gray color.

Spotting her barrier was giving out due to the lightning hand of her foe cutting through it, the hanyou directed her ash cloud towards the failing barrier and encircled it. The barrier broke just as the ash cloud started circling it.

In a cold tone, Lilly declared "Haitaifuu."

The ash immediately responded to its master's command and swelled in size to take the form of a swirling tornado. Watching this happen, the demon lord looked about the tornado in confusion. He then suddenly felt a few cuts forming on his wings and main body. Surprise coated his face, but annoyance mixed into it as well.

"Do you honestly think you can finish me with this level of attack?" he challenged.

"No."

Seeing an opening in the tornado forming, Sasuke saw Lilly clearly standing still with the remainder of her zanpakutō in her right hand and her left hand raised with palm pointing at him and a glowing red fireball within it, seemingly waiting to be released.

"Haitaifuu is not enough to finish this fight, that much I know. That's why I created a variation of this attack, one that you won't be able to survive. The name of this new attack is Atsui hai no torunēdo. You'll understand it's name once you see it in action. More like, you may find nothing but unhappiness when it hits you."

Pushing more demonic energy into her flaming sphere that increased the size by triple, the neko coldly declared "Hadō 31: Shakkahō!"

Roaring forward with blazing speed and a trail of flames following in it's wake, the large fireball smashed into the tornado and nothing seemed to happen at first. Without warning, the ash ignited and the twister became a flaming tower with heat reaching heights few had seen or felt before. At the same time, a loud pain filled scream erupted from the blazing structure and struck into the hearts of both women that watched it.

"That is Atsui hai no torunēdo, Lord Sasuke. Farewell." Lilly sadly declared as she turned away from the tower of flames.

Flashing to the side of her sister-in-law, she carefully picked her up, being mindful of her wound and not touching it. She vanished yet again to only reappear in the hallway just outside the throne room where they had been fighting. Laying the ice demoness down tenderly, the neko examined the frozen clawed hand still sticking through her for a moment.

"I'm sorry Yoshe." Lilly whispered with tears threatening to spill from her eyes. "It's my fault you're in this shape. If I hadn't of used up so much energy earlier on ..."

"No." Yoshe hushed the neko. Grimacing slightly as she reached out to grasp the neko's hand, she added "I was careless. No one is at fault for the shape I'm in but myself. I underestimated his abilities and for that I'm paying the price. I only wish it hadn't been so steep."

"Don't talk like that." the neko commanded. Looking over the wound again, she grimaced at what she knew must be done.

Catching the scent of salt, Lilly glanced down to see tears freely flowing down the beautiful ice demoness's face. The sight threw her off due that she had never seen the demoness shed tears.

"Tell him I love him and I'm sorry I couldn't keep my promise to ..."

"NO!" Lilly yelled. Calming herself, she sympathetically said "You won't die here, Yoshe. We made a promise to return to our mates, no matter what. I won't let you break that promise."

"You have no say in the matter." Yoshe whispered in a pained expression.

Shaking her head back and forth a few times, the neko sadly smiled down at the woman she felt like was her sister. "I do and I won't let you go. This is going to hurt, but bear with me."

Confused, the ice demoness saw the neko reach out and gently grasp the frozen hand still lodged in her body. She had little time to prepare herself as the hanyou jerked the dismembered extremity from her body before tossing it aside. Blood immediately welled up and poured from the wound, staining both her clothing and the floor beneath her in the crimson life force.

Holding her hands over the wound, Lilly's eyes fluttered shut. "_Remember your training. This is where it counts! I won't lose Yoshe, no, I refuse to lose her!_"

Still in shock at the actions of her sister-in-law, the ice demoness suddenly felt a warming sensation starting to pour into her body where her wound was. Forcing herself to crane her neck up slightly, her eyes widened a fraction in astonishment when she saw a green glow pouring out from the neko's clawed hands. She also noticed that Lilly had her eyes glued shut and appeared to be struggling to keep up the effort she was putting forth.

"_That's a healing __Kidō! How! I never taught her that!_"

"Lilly..."

"I need to concentrate. Just lie still and be quiet." Lilly commanded in a gruff tone.

Complying with the neko's wishes, the ice demoness hushed herself and tried to deal with the pain she felt in her chest. Though she could feel the wound starting to slowly close up, the pain associated with it hurt just as much as the injury itself.

"_Damn it, this is harder than I remember during my training!_" Lilly internally growled. The flow of energy coming out of her hands was beginning to sputter a bit and the healing process was also starting to slow. Redoubling her efforts, she remembered what was on the line and squeezed out more power, causing the green glow of her hands to intensify yet again. Sweat poured down the sides of her face and soaked her top. Her teeth continued to grind against themselves due that she was gritting them intensively to keep her concentration. At the same time, her hands began shaking a bit, disrupting the flow of energy yet again.

Panting deeply as she cracked her eyes open, she saw the wound was over two-thirds closed, but still had a third to go. Squeezing her eyes shut yet again, she foraged her body for any and all energy she had remaining. Her aura was already weaker than after her training sessions had ever been, which in her mind warned her that she was edging ever so dangerously past her breaking point.

"_Even if I have to give up all of my power, I will not stop! I did not start this only to fail! Please, give me strength to finish!_"

Feeling a slight surge of power, her eyes snapped open in shock. Glancing down, the neko noticed the remnants of her zanpakutō laying beside of her had it's aura flaring off of it. Another pulse filled her, allowing her to keep up the release of healing energy.

"_Haineko? You're helping me?_" the neko questioned.

In a clipped tone, the zanpakutō spirit retorted "_Of course I am! You are my master. Though I am still using my power to contain that demon, I will give you some of my power that is left. Do not squander it! Save your family._"

Inwardly nodding, the hanyou returned to the task at hand. She saw the wound was nearly sealed shut and continued to pour out her power. The energy was starting to slow a bit again, but it mattered little due that the wound at long last was now closed up.

Falling over onto her back and closing her eyes, Lilly laid there trying frantically to restore her breathing to normal. Her body all but demanded she rest, with her mind threatening to allow her to be swallowed up by the darkness the rest brought.

"Who taught you to heal?"

Peeling open her eyes to look in the direction of the ice demoness, the neko said nothing at first due that she was still trying to get her breathing calmed. At last getting it to a manageable amount, she rasped out "It was Orihime."

"But that kind of healing takes a lot of time to perfect. You only got to see her for a handful of weeks, not nearly enough time for you to develop those skills." Yoshe protested.

Faintly giggling, Lilly felt her drooping eyelids close with her grin still plastered on her face. In a quiet tone, she replied "Healing with Kidō isn't too difficult, well, somewhat. The basics are all that Orihime could give me, however, they're kind of simple if you can control the output of your energy."

"Because I'm a hanyou I've always been careful of how much demonic energy I release when I use my Kidō, thus building up good control without knowing about it. Orihime taught me how to use that control and do simple healing. It wasn't easy to learn but with some practice I managed to do a reasonable job. I can at least close up wounds. I can't replace blood with this healing, however, just closing up wounds is a good start, don't you agree?"

"Yes, it is. You've done well, Lilly." Yoshe proudly commented. "_You've come so far in such a short few years. There is much for you to learn, but you have done well with what you have already mastered. Healing Kidō was something I never quite grasped, yet here you are using it as if it's second nature to you._"

Sitting up suddenly, the neko brow furrowed for a moment. She quickly took hold of her zanpakutō's hilt and forced herself back onto shaky legs. "Stay here."

A touch uncertain by what she meant, the demoness soon realized why she had stood. A hint of demonic energy was filling the area from where the two had fought the demon lord, telling anyone with any kind of senses that his aura had yet to fade away completely.

Starting to try and stand herself, Yoshe gasped in pain and fell back onto her back. Short of breath, she winced from the shooting pain in her chest.

"I told you stay there. You're healed but that doesn't mean completely. I closed up the wound, however the damage that was done may still remain. Just wait here." Lilly commanded.

"I can help you ..."

"Don't make me use Kidō to restrain you." the neko warned. In taking a sharp breath, she added curtly "I won't be long. Atsui hai no torunēdo should have all but finished him off. To be alive is surprising in and of itself, but he'll be in no shape to fight with me. Just wait, okay?"

Mentally berating herself over her inability to assist her sister-in-law, the ice demoness heavily sighed before acknowledging the statement with a solemn nod.

"Don't worry, this shouldn't take long."

Rushing back into the throne room, the overwhelming scent of burnt flesh invaded the neko's nostrils, making her want to hurl. It took all her self control to tamp down the sensation and keep her mind focused on what she knew must be done. Reaching the spot where her ash remained spinning about, she held out her zanpakutō towards it, causing a reaction. She watched as the ash suddenly shot towards her and reformed into the blade of her sword. With her zanpakutō recalled, the results of the horrific attack were revealed to her.

Standing on trembling legs was the once proud hawk demon. His gray skin was scorched black in many places while other areas of his skin was raw. Almost every inch of his skin had lacerations where the ash cloud had cut at him when spinning about and left nothing but dried blood in it's wake. The two clawed like wings had numerous holes through them that were seared shut from the intense heat. His hair was partially burnt away, along with the tattered remains of his pants and white top that had been draped around his hips. Breathing seemed very strenuous due to the ragged breaths coming from him.

Taking in his form, the neko couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt for the pain she knew he was suffering through from her attack. Yet another part of her couldn't help but feel some sort of twisted satisfaction at the fact he felt some form of pain far worse than what he had inflicted upon those under his rule.

"I must admit Lord Sasuke, I never expected you to survive Atsui hai no torunēdo. The pain you're feeling must be tremendous. Just breathing alone must be a laborious task, let alone standing there."

Without warning, the form of Sasuke started glowing slightly red. His grayish skin color began receding along with his wings and long hair. The gray skin soon vanished to reveal his cream colored skin, though it was still scorched and lacerated heavily. His chokutō reformed in his right hand with wisps of smoke pouring off the blade.

Realizing the demon lord had yet to look up at her, the neko coolly said "The end of your reign is at hand, Lord Sasuke. I should end your life here after all that you've done to the people of not only the Western Lands, but your own subjects of the Eastern Lands."

Heavily sighing, Lilly shook her head for a moment before turning away from the pitiful sight before her and sheathed her zanpakutō.

"But doing so would only lower me to your standards, and I refuse to play that part in your demise. Lords Kouga and Sesshomaru will deal with you once these battles are over."

Not even a few yards away, the neko's ears perked up as she picked up the sound of faint, ragged chuckling coming from behind her. "What do you find funny?"

"No ... stomach for ... what must be done, ... half breed?" Sasuke rasped out.

Spinning around to face the demon lord, the neko spotted he had at last raised his head and was looking straight at her with his crimson colored eyes. A sadistic smirk was plastered on his face while his body shook slightly from the strain of still standing. Sweat was pouring down the sides of his face, yet he paid no heed to it.

"I do not revel in killing, Lord Sasuke. Especially when my opponent cannot fight back." the neko tightly retorted.

"Useless." the hawk demon spat. "You weaklings ... are all the same."

Clutching his zanpakutō a bit tighter, he muttered "All of you do not ... understand what demons are truly like. That is ... why each of you ... are so pitiful and will ... never learn a thing. A demon ... in your position ... would... would..."

Coughing loudly and spitting up blood till it ran down his chin, the demon lord growled out "A true demon would never hesitate to eliminate someone as powerful as I am. That's why you will die here, half breed."

"You are in no position to make idle threats." Lilly coldly stated.

"Idle?" Sasuke smugly challenged. "Who said it was an empty threat? You little fool, I will show you what true power is and prove that I am the true master of these lands!"

Ghastly purple aura suddenly poured out from the body of the hawk demon, forcing the neko to retreat a few yards while she gripped the hilt of her zanpakutō.

"_Just how much power does he have left! After taking a hit from my attack he should have been down and out. What kind of monster is he!_"

Lightning flaring around the hawk demon's body brought the neko out of her stupor. Paying close attention to it, she noted that his body seemed to be straining to keep itself together in one piece, more so near his open wounds.

"This is the end for you, half breed. If the pathetic Lords of the West and North wish to take my lands, then it is only fair that I take two of the Ladies of the Western Lands for fair compensation. Farewell, Lady of the West."

Releasing a primordial roar, the Eastern Lord started unleashing even more power. His aura seemingly exploded as the lightning surrounding him flared out higher than ever.

Sensing danger by his actions, the hanyou turned on her heels and raced towards the doorway that led to the outside of the throne room. Her body protested from such actions, however her overwhelming will to live and the thoughts of what would become of her sister-in-law spurred her onwards.

Finding the demoness still laying in the hallways, she rushed to in front of her and spun around to face the direction she had just come from. Her breathing was erratic and labored, prompting the ice demoness to try and sit up.

"What's going on! I can sense Lord Sasuke's aura being released at an alarming rate."

Cringing due to her shoulder wound, the neko barked out "He's lost his mind! I think he's trying to blow himself up, and with that kind of power he has left, he could likely take out a good chunk of this castle."

Hesitantly, she added "I don't know if I can shield us this time. Both Haineko and I are pretty worn out, but I'll do my best."

Hearing scuffling behind her, the neko glanced over her shoulder to see Yoshe struggling to her feet by using her white sword as a crutch. Her features was etched with pain and revealed how difficult it was for her to be standing once more.

"Yoshe, you need to lay back down!" Lilly exclaimed as she turned to the ice demoness and reached out for her. Her hand was smacked away as the demoness took a few unsure steps forward so that she was directly behind the neko with her back to her.

"Lilly, you did so much to protect and heal me already. Let me repay you now."

Before she could argue, the neko picked up a faint whisper from the demoness.

"Hakufuku."

The neko suddenly felt her eyes grow heavy and her mind going dark. She realized in a flash the Kidō spell she had just been placed under, however it was too late to do anything about it.

In a silent whisper, she murmured "Yoshe..." before starting to fall forward. Instead of hitting the ground, she was held up by the demoness, who gently lowered her onto her back so that she laid flat on it.

Sadly looking down at the neko, Yoshe apologetically said "I'm sorry, but I can't let you push yourself any further."

Returning her gaze ahead towards the throne room, the demoness moved forward a few more feet and drove her zanpakutō into the ground. The pain in her chest continued to throb from her earlier wound, but she forced the pain down as she started gathering up power. Her white aura swirled about her body, sending her hair and clothing floating.

In the throne room taking his last few breaths, Sasuke sneered. Proudly, he declared "Chidori Blast."

All at once, his beaten and battered body exploded and released a massive burst of lightning that completely obliterated everything within the room. The blast continued onwards and ripped the stone floors asunder as it continued to rock the castle with a massive explosion.

Watching the incoming blast with icy eyes, Yoshe raised her right arm up so that it was directly in front of her and her palm was facing outwards. Bracing it with her left hand, she fiercely yelled out "Bakudō 81: **Dankū!"**

Seeing the translucent wall take up position to protect the hallway, she quickly dragged her zanpakutō out of the ground and turned the blade away from herself so that it faced the incoming attack. Stabbing it gently into the ground and causing a burst of white aura to flare up from it, she repeated the process three more times. With the four bursts of white energy welling up from the ground, the ice demoness drew her sword up horizontally to beside her head and stared coldly in the direction of the lightning energy.

Waiting till the last second when the blast struck her barrier, the demoness coolly declared "It ends here, Lord Sasuke. You will not have your way and harm anyone else so long as I draw breath in this body."

Releasing even more power into her blade, Yoshe cried out "Tsugi no mai, Hakuren!"

All at once, a massive wave of snow shot forth from the tip of the white sword. The huge wave of snow slammed roughly into the blast of lightning that had just broken the translucent barrier. Smashing into one another, the two powerful attacks grinded against one another, their sheer power radiating from the encounter.

Sweat poured from the forehead of the demoness as she grit her teeth, determined to remain focused on the task at hand. "_I won't fail!_"

"ROAR HAINEKO!"

Hearing those words said, the ice demoness suddenly saw a cloud of ash shoot up and joined into the fray. Shocked by the allying force, Yoshe glanced over her shoulder to see Lilly sitting up and strain covering her face. Her eyes were clouded and appeared half vacant, yet the neko seemed alert to what she was doing at the moment.

The two continued to combine forces and held their ground against the blast of lightning. It soon weakened tremendously and all at once sputtered out.

Panting heavy, the two women immediately felt their bodies go slack. The neko fell backwards none to gently onto her back and felt herself slipping away into the futile state of unconsciousness yet again. Not far from her, the ice demoness collapsed onto the ground with a ghostly smile on her face before passing out.

Only a few minutes passed before the Lord of the North, Kouga, flanked by General Nakamura and several soldiers, found the two passed out women. Staring down at them, the demon lord felt a bit of his tension release as he smiled down at the pair.

"It seems they have won, Lord Kouga." Nakamura stated in her usual cold tone.

Still smiling, the wolf demon nodded his head and replied "It seems so. Let's get them back to Kagome and Tsunade. All that's left is for the Southern Lord to be toppled."

**Thanks everyone for reading the chapter. Now, if you could do me a kind favor and review to let me know what you think of the chapter, I'd appreciate it.**


	27. Chapter 27: Darkness

**Okay, first off, I'm so sorry guys for not posting in the last two weeks. Ugh, work has been havoc on my life, along with stuff going on at home. Seems like when I get time to write, I just slack off. I totally take the blame for this. I hope everyone still reads on, but I can't blame you for being irritated or angry with me for not posting. My deepest apologies for just not getting the job done. So, I'm sorry guys.**

**As you saw, life has been pretty hectic. I had training for a week up at Dayton, OH, which was fun, plus I got to hang out with one of the guys up there some. Just found out today that my one coworker here is leaving the week of Thanksgiving for another job, which sucks since he was one of the best people to work with. Oh yeah, I maybe on the road to leaving the company I'm currently at too since a company gave me a call from nearby that was interested in me. I don't know if I get a serious offer if I'd take it or not. It's further away, however, it would be better money. Just not sure yet. Finally got done cleaning the outside of my house, so that's a plus in accomplishments, I guess, lol. Other than that, just busy it seems like. My weekends are in disarray and almost always uncertain. And one last thing... Thanksgiving is coming... I love family, but to visit all takes so much effort. Ugh, the holidays are nice and all, but it's so tiring. Not looking forward to that. 3-4 sets of families to visit. Lovely, lol.**

**Writing wise as you saw is at a crawl. I finally got a break the last few days or so, but still, it's way below what I want to be producing for you guys. Bear with me, please. I'm trying hard to hit my two week deadlines.**

**Thanks to both Katana and alex 988 for your reviews. I really appreciate them. Btw, I've yet to answer you alex, so here goes.**

**alex 988: Thanks about the chapter and my writing skills. Glad you like them. As for Eternal War (may get renamed), it will not be like the 4Kids version that stops right at a certain point without resolving several questions. Ugh, I was so irritated when I found out what they did. Such crap... So to answer your question, it will follow the original storyline, aka the Japan version. The timing of when I start Eternal War is still in question. I want to finish this story first, though I'm flirting with other ideas at the same time. We'll see.**

**Thanks once more for the reviews guys. I truly appreciate them. Well, with that said, I think it's better to let the chapter happen, so here goes. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 27**

"Not so high and mighty now are we half breed!" Aikamaru arrogantly asked as he saw the light leaving the dog hanyou's eyes. "You said you would defeat me and bring peace to these lands, yet all you have done is die here like I said you would. This should be a lesson to you to never underestimate the Lord of the South!"

Drawing his pike from the hanyou's chest, the demon lord sneered as a torrent of blood poured from the wound in his foe's chest. Sweeping it through the air to shake off the remaining blood, he turned away and started walking for the stairwell.

"It's time I dealt with these pitiful Western Lands' dogs."

"Why leave when you're not done with me?"

Stopping in mid-stride upon hearing the declaration, the water demon quickly snapped around to find the dog hanyou completely unharmed and staring him down. Flashing a glance at where his opponent had been before, he couldn't help but gasp in surprise when he saw an ice sculpture of the hanyou in the place where he had impaled him. Instead of blood pouring from it's wound, water was seeping to the ground.

Anger and rage raced across the face of the demon lord as he stared at the ice. "How... How... HOW IN THE HELL ARE YOU STILL ALIVE!"

Pointing his trident at the ice sculpture, he loudly screamed "WHAT IS THAT THING!"

"Could you take it down a few decibels?" the hanyou questioned in a bored tone. Ears swiveling back to their usual forward position, he let out a sigh before saying "I mean, really, do you need to scream every time you talk to me?"

Pointing at the remains of the icy lookalike, he added "As for what that bunshin is, that's an easy one. That technique is called Zanhyō Ningyō."

Staring intently at the remainder of the icy lookalike, the water demon snarled "But you never had such a technique!"

Lightly chuckling, the hanyou raised his blade up and tapped it gently with a clawed finger. "It seems you have a short memory. I did tell you that I have battled against two different wielders of icy weapons before."

Noticing the eyes of his foe widening with realization, Iya smoothly said "Zanhyō Ningyō came to me compliments of Tōshirō Hitsugaya's zanpakutō, Hyōrinmaru. He never used it in battle against me, however, it was transferred over to Ketsaiga when I fought him. I'm kind of glad he didn't use it since it's a very tricky technique to decipher. Honestly, using it takes a lot of timing and preparation, but if you can find an opening for it, you can usually fool an enemy into attacking a fake target at least once."

During the explanation, the demon lord's grip on his weapon tightened even more so than before to the point it looked like his hand would explode from it. His eyes at the same time became even more anger and hate filled and his breathing started to get more shallow. Rage rolled off of him in waves and the shaking of his body showed just how truly angry he was.

"Luckily for you, that bunshin had no hidden abilities. Unlike other bunshins, this one has more realistic looks to it, making it believable to the one that attacks it that they had truly killed their opponent and not some fake. That is the one characteristic that makes this bunshin truly remarkable, don't you agree?" the dog hanyou snidely asked.

The water demon answered in an insane roar as his demonic aura exploded. Sickly purple aura swept across the roof of the keep and sent shockwaves along with it. The very keep itself seemed to shutter from the intensity of the demon lord's true power being unleashed.

Standing his ground, Iya stared down the demon lord with Ketsaiga still in it's icy form at his right side. The implications of angering the water demon were clear, however, a secondary reaction immediately presented itself within his mind.

"_His fury will blind him and reveal many openings. Aikamaru has given into his hate, anger, and lust for power. Those things will make it much easier for me to find a way to end this battle._"

Focusing his eyes on the demon lord, he added "_I can't let my guard down. No matter what, I need to pay close attention. He'll make a mistake and when he does I need to be ready._"

Eyes widening a fraction, the dog hanyou saw his opponent suddenly charge him faster than he ever had. With only slim breadth of clearance, he leaned his head backwards as the blade of the trident passed by. Flashing away, he quickly turned and met the crazed water demon's weapon head on with Ketsaiga.

"I WILL NOT BE HUMILATED BY SOME HALF BREED PIECE OF TRASH!"

Ears cringing from the yell of the demon lord, the hanyou backed away from the fight. Skidding to a stop, he suddenly lunged forward with wispy cold steam pouring off his weapon.

"I don't need to humiliate you. You seem to be doing a fair job of it on your own." Iya brashly stated while raising his blade up to his side and took hold of it with both clawed hands. "Let's see you deal with this. Ryūsenka!"

Forming around the hanyou instantly was a ring of frozen air. The air seemed to remain behind while he continued to charge forward. Not backing down, the water demon slashed out, only to have his trident graze against the halberd of his foe.

A moment passed before the water demon was encapsulated in large piece of ice. The ice took the shape of a closed flower bud with two leaves sticking out horizontally from the main body. Sharp razor edges of ice made up most of the outer portions of the flower, giving it a dangerous yet beautiful look.

The hanyou took to the air with his attack still shimmering and releasing frosty cold steam into the air. Stretching out his index and middle fingers of his left hand, he summoned forth his light blue energy whip and shot it straight towards the ice sculpture. With many intricate moves, he sliced the sculpture many times over before retracting his whip and landing back onto the ground gracefully on the balls of his feet. A moment passed before the ice fell into numerous pieces and scattered about onto the roof of the keep.

Bit by bit, the chunks of ice thawed out and turned into small pools of water. The pools flowed into one another and spiraled upwards to reform the water demon faster than previously done so. With his body intact once more, he charged blinded by his anger at the sole being he had every intention on killing.

"HALF BREED!"

Not rattled and shifting his stance, Iya brought Ketsaiga before himself and readied for the fray he was about to enter into.

The two weapons clattered against one another with sparks raining down and coating the ground from the intense meeting of weaponry. Each of the two combatants pressed against one another, each fighting for dominance.

"I will not yield Lord Aikamaru. I have too many people to protect to let you continue to carry out your crazed plans! Even if I fall, others will take my place and stop you!" Iya declared in full defiance.

In an insane fit of rage, the water demon drew back his weapon and started wildly slashing at the hanyou. It took all the hanyou had to parry each power laden swing. Sparks flared into the air from the strikes, along with the ringing sound of steel filling the air from each time the two weapons made contact.

With each swing, the demon snarled out "You have something to protect you say! Only the weak would seek the aid of others! You have friends to protect; to be there for; to shield; to be close to. It is nothing but a mere weakness, so why, why... why are you so strong!"

All at once, Iya countered with a heavily powered swing of his own. The swing smashed through the trident of Aikamaru and sent the pieces of it floating through the air, with one piece slashing him across the cheek and drawing water from the blow.

Not finished, the demon lord grasped the piece that had grazed his cheek with his bare hand and went to stab the hanyou in the chest. He was countered with the sword of the hanyou going through his chest and out of his shoulder, causing his body to break down into water once more.

Panting slightly as he backed away, the dog hanyou watched the demon lord's body reform quickly and a fresh trident form in his right hand. The anger and rage pouring from the water demon was unmistakable as he turned his glowing light blue eyes and bore them into the muddy brown eyes of his foe.

"Give up, Lord Aikamaru. You claim friendship and protecting those important to you are weaknesses, much like how hanyous are nothing more than trash. However, you cannot deny that those bonds I share with my friends and family give me strength to continue this fight. I have come this far in life only because of what my father instilled in me: protecting those around a person gives that person true power. It is that belief which gave me strength to defeat The Thirteen, and it is that strength that will help me defeat the likes of you. You can struggle all you like but in the end, I will not quit nor let you harm anyone else."

Anger swelled within the water demon's light blue eyes as he listened to the hanyou. Seeing he was done talking, the demon lord slightly lowered his head before throwing it back and letting loose a burst of insanity filled laughter.

"Did I miss something funny?"

Sneering back at the dog hanyou, the demon lord smugly replied "You cannot begin to compare to my greatness. I give you some credit for being able to last this long in a battle with me. However, it is ludicrous to think you can defeat me."

"Friendship, protecting those weaker than you, and most disgustingly of the three, love. Those things are what make one weak. None of them grant you power, but are nothing more than burdens that become heavy over time. If you wish to have true power, you must take it. The weak must have their power taken from them by you, thus giving you the ability to push beyond what you are. Weaklings are just what they are: weak."

Heavily sighing and shaking his head, Iya remarked "You've learned nothing."

Raising his weapon up and drawing it up over his head, Aikamaru smartly said "Now perish half breed! Haidorokattā!"

Watching his foe swing his weapon downwards, the hanyou watched as a blade of water came racing towards him. "That trick again? Don't underestimate me!"

Evading the blast was easy enough for him as he took to the air. Airborne, the hanyou suddenly realized his opponent was firing off another blast without swinging his weapon this time. A secondary blade roared at him with him still floating in mid-air.

Flinging Ketsaiga away, he watched the halberd smash into the ground and sink in about two feet deep from the impact. Unfurling his energy whip, he shot it straight at the blade and adjusted it so that it wrapped around the hilt of his ice coated sword. Yanking on it with all his strength, he dragged himself out of the pathway of the secondary attack just in the nick of time.

"_It seems he can launch those attacks much quicker than before. However, it's still pressurized water, meaning I should be able to block it with Ice Barrier._"

"Too slow."

Eyes widening as he realized the demon lord was directly behind him, Iya cursed under his breath before flashing away from the water blade that would have killed him. Reappearing, Iya found Aikamaru ten yards away with his weapon aimed at him. A flurry of water blades flew from the trident, each at different angles to create a maze of watery blades.

"Shit, not good!"

Crouching low, the hanyou launched into the air as high as he could but instead of finding freedom found his foe waiting with his trident aimed at him and water swirling around the tips of his weapon.

"YOU'RE MINE! Haidorokattā!"

No choices left as the water blades of high pressure rushed towards his body, Iya drew his icy weapon in front of himself and grasped the hilt with both hands so that it was centered. A ring of frozen air formed around his farm while the icy steam pouring from his weapon seemed to increase.

"I don't think so. Ryūsenka!"

The icy blade met the incoming water blades and seemed to push on one another momentarily. As the moment passed, the water froze over and a closed bud like flower structure formed while the hanyou fell back to the ground. A few seconds later the demon lord landed deftly also.

Charging forward with his weapon drawn up over his head, Aikamaru swung hard downwards with all the force he could create at the hanyou. Sparks showered to the ground when the two fighters weapons struck one another and the sound of steel rang clearly throughout the air on the roof. Grinding metal was all that could be heard as the two struggled against one another, each wishing to make the other yield.

Pushing away but drawing up power from his weapon, the hanyou suddenly yelled out "Cold Wave!"

A blast of icy energy slammed hard into the water demon and flash froze him solid in a brief second.

Backing up to give himself some distance, the dog hanyou suddenly stabbed the ground with his sword, causing a burst of white aura to pour out of the ground. Repeating the process three more times so that he had four bursts in front of him, he raised his weapon up so that he had a double handed grip and held it just even with his head vertically pointed at the icy form of his foe.

"Tsugi no mai, Hakuren!"

Launching form the tip of the weapon was a wave of snow that bounded straight for the ice sculpture of the demon lord. The wave engulfed his form and left behind only a thicker chunk of ice that seemed to stretch out several yards.

"That should hold him for a moment." Iya commented as he slightly panted. Sweat was starting to work it's way down his forehead and to the ground while his breath left soft puffs of warm air in an otherwise cold battlefront.

Calming his mind and breathing as he slid his eyes shut, he felt his sword pulsate once as it began building up energy. The very air around the hanyou seemed to thicken and chill.

After about a minute, the massive structure of ice that had encased the Lord of the South exploded, sending chunks and small pieces flying. Erupting from the explosion, Aikamaru growled lowly and glared in the direction of the hanyou, however his facial expression changed from one of anger to shock at what he saw.

Floating eight feet off the ground from the same spot he had retreated to when he used his previous attack, Iya now had a pair of ice wings jutting out from his back and ice covering both arms. A whip like frozen tail swished once behind him while a blinding white aura poured off of his body. Ketsaiga, coated in the same white aura, was pointed directly at the demon lord as if in a condemning manner.

Shooting up from the ground and encircling the pair without warning were numerous spiked ice pillars that formed a wall. The ice was slowly circling them in a synchronized set of movements and gave off the eerie feeling of imminent doom.

"I must thank you for taking so long to free yourself." Iya coolly stated. "In doing so, you gave me all the time I needed to prepare one of the more powerful techniques that were in Mage Hitsugaya's arsenal. Let's see how you deal with it."

Twisting his sword ninety degrees counter-clockwise, he icily declared "Sennen Hyōrō."

All at once, the ice pillars ceased their circling of the two and shot straight forward. The pillars crushed him within their grasp, earning a yell of pain from him. Frosty steam poured from the new solid structure, making the air chill that much more.

Touching down back onto the ground, the hanyou's ice wings fell off and shattered upon hitting the ground. The remaining ice on his body fell off, however he kept Ketsaiga in it's icy form.

"_That should buy me some time. I can't keep using so much power. Mage Hitsugaya's abilities are powerful, but they have a drawback. They consume a great deal of power over long periods of time, meaning I won't be able to keep using his powers much longer._"

Sighing, he mused in his mind "_Not that there were many more techniques left. The only one I'm afraid to use is far too much for me to handle at this point. I could try my own new skill, but I don't want to unless I absolutely need to. It's still not perfect and I could lose control._"

Images of the frozen battlefield where he had trained during his self-imposed exile to the frontlines came to mind. The whole battlefield was frozen solid in six inches of ice while he laid shivering on his back and puffs of hot air escaping his tired body. Ice coated portions of his clothing and his hair had chunks of ice within it.

Shaking himself from the daydream of his training, the hanyou refocused his attention on the massive icy structure. "_No, not unless I need it will I venture to use it. Sennen Hyōrō should be enough to hold him for now. I always have one other option, but it's even more dangerous than my own creation. I'll just have to wait and see what Lord Aikamaru does for now._"

Without warning, a beam of sickly dark purple energy shot straight through one of the sides of the massive structure of ice. Smoke poured from the gaping hole as the demon lord slowly climbed out with his twisting in anger. Flashing away, he reappeared several feet away from the hanyou with his body quivering from the very anger radiating out of his form. His weapon shook slightly and his free hand was clenched tightly.

"Mocked by a half breed..." Aikamaru lowly growled as he slid his eyes shut momentarily. "I can't believe that you are this strong. You go this far just for your pathetic Lord of the West."

"I'll go all the way to defeat you, Lord Aikamaru." Iya politely commented. Shifting his stance, he kept his eyes trained on the demon lord, making sure not to underestimate any movement that his foe made.

Eyes snapping open with anger and hatred burning deeply within them, the demon lord released a loud roar as he charged the hanyou. Not willing to stand by idly, the hanyou took off running in the direction of his opponent.

In a loud clash, the icy halberd of the hanyou and the water trident of the water demon met head on with the sword sliding in between two of the prongs of the trident. Grinding with one another, the two weapons struggled for dominance. Their masters leaned in and pushed all of the weight and strength into forcing the other to give in, but neither would back down.

Pushing off, the hanyou suddenly found himself face to face with the tip of the trident's spike pommel. He barely managed to shift his head to the right to avoid being skewered.

Not relenting in his attack, the demon lord shot the end of his trident rapidly time and time again at the head of the hanyou. Each time, the hanyou shifted his head or body just enough to evade having his head pierced, however it was obvious by the expression on his face that he was feeling pressured by the constant attacks.

Without warning, Iya reached out and took hold of the hilt of the trident, bringing the fast paced attacks to an end. Aikamaru tried to wrench the weapon away from his foe's grasp but found he could not do it.

Smirking slightly as he spoke, the hanyou coolly said "This is what I was waiting for."

Not giving the confused water demon a chance to speak, the hanyou's aura suddenly roared to life, causing the very ground of the keep to shake from the tremendous force. Swinging his blade out away from his body, he drew out more of his sword's icy powers. Frosty steam poured from Ketsaiga as the air seemed to grow thick from the intense aura being expelled from both itself and it's master.

Realizing the position he was in, the demon lord struggled to free his weapon, yelling "Let go of me!"

Still struggling to free his weapon from the grasp of Iya, Aikamaru screamed "Damn you, LET GO!"

Deciding to force his weapon free, the demon swung a fist out at the head of the hanyou, only to have his opponent duck the wild swing. He repeated the manner repeatedly, even resorting to using his whip like tails to try and break the hold on his weapon.

"TAKE THIS! COLD WAVE!"

Changing how he held his weapon to where he would be backslashing, the hanyou drew his weapon up and slashed down the center of the demon. A pained expression passed over the demon lord's face momentarily before his body froze solid. Releasing his hold on the trident, he stabbed his halberd into the chest of the demon lord without hesitation and placed both hands onto the hilt of his weapon. The very aura around the blade intensified even more so than it previously had, making the air thick and heavy.

"WIND SLASH!"

White demonic energy tore straight out the back of the demon lord, sending pieces of his frozen body scattering far and wide over the roof of the keep. Some chunks fell over the sides of the keep, but many remained on the building. The powerful blast carved out a gash into the roof to the point that two floors beneath the roof could be openly seen. Pieces of rubble and debris continued to rain down into the keep, however, the roof did not collapse in on itself.

Panting heavily in a hunched over position, Iya examined the destruction and noted that the ice chunks of his foe still remaining. Straightening his form, he readied himself for what he knew would be the return of the demon lord once more.

He soon saw the chunks of ice starting to vibrate like always and melt back down into their liquid state. The water slowly pooled together, with water coming up from the sides of the roof where they had been tossed off. Eventually, a large pool had condensed and rose up from the ground to reshape the demon lord's body. After what seemed like an eternity, his body was complete again as he suddenly started panting heavily.

"Damn you..." he lowly growled as his body trembled from his rage. In an ear splitting roar, he screamed "DAMN YOU TO HELL YOU LOWLY HALF BREED! JUST DIE ALREADY!"

Flashing away from where he had stood only moments ago, the hanyou dodged an anger blinded water demon's stabbing attack. He continued to flash away as the demon slashed at him each and every time, his swings becoming more and more power laden with each miss.

"STAND YOUR GROUND AND FIGHT ME YOU MUTT!"

Still flashing away, Iya remained silent. Aikamaru was further enraged by the hanyou's silence and continued wildly swinging at him.

Vanishing one last time, the dog hanyou suddenly appeared directly behind the demon lord with the tip of his blade touching the lord's back. "You fail to realize you have lost this war. No matter what you do here in this battle against me, Lord Aikamaru, the Southern Lands will be wrestled away from your control."

"YOU KNOW NOTHING!" Aikamaru screamed as he swung around with his trident aimed to lop off the hanyou's head.

Sighing tiredly, Iya evaded easily and moved several yards away from the demon lord. Pointing at the edge of the keep with his left hand, he smoothly asked "Can you not sense it? Your head general is gone, along with your bodyguard. Your army has been drastically reduced in numbers, and there are far more Western and Northern troops fighting out there than your current troops here at the keep."

"Do you understand now? You actions against me are futile. Even if you kill me in this fight, which you won't, there is nothing you can do to change the fact that this war is over for the Southern Lands. Even if the remainder of your army is foolish enough to continue this war after losing it's capital, it will make no difference. So the question is, why do you continue to fight a pointless battle? Our quarrel will not settle this war, nor will it gain you anything."

"YOU THINK IT'S THAT EASY, DO YOU! I WILL DESTROY YOU AND CRUSH THOSE FOOLS THAT DARE MEDDLE IN MY LANDS!" Aikamaru roared.

Releasing yet another sigh as his hand fell to his side, Iya turned away and whipped Ketsaiga out to his right side. All at once, the icy weapon reversed back to it's normal halberd form before reverting even further back to it's katana form. The only sound following the manner was the sound of the katana sliding back into it's black sheath and the familiar clink from it being fully back in.

"You are so tiresome." Iya wearily said as he took a few steps forward before stopping. Turning his head to glance over his shoulder at the demon lord with his piercing muddy brown eyes, he confidently said "I have no doubt in my mind your pride is torn to shreds. Continuing to fight you would be pointless. I've had enough fighting for today. I'll leave you to your own fate."

Infuriated at the fact he was being talked down to, Aikamaru yelled "This fight is far from over!"

"It is over for me." Iya sternly retorted. "I have no urge to fight an opponent that is blinded by their rage, hatred, anger, and own stupid pride that they can't realize when they have lost. You're like a beast, lost in it's rage to the point you can't see that which matters most. That kind of fight is not what I will participate in."

Walking towards the stairwell, the hanyou's ears twitched as he heard the roar of the water demon charging towards him. Effortlessly, he flashed away just as the trident slashed where he had stood moments before. Chancing a look into the water demon's light blue eyes, he saw nothing but rage and anger swimming within their depths.

"No half breed will best me. I swear on my title as Lord of the South, you will die by my hand!"

Without warning, the sickly purple aura of the demon lord shot high into the air. The foundation of the Southern Keep seemed to shutter from the intensity.

Resigning himself to finish the battle, Iya drew Ketsaiga from it's sheath once more. The katana immediately returned to it's halberd state, and then transformed further into it's icy form. Frosty steam poured from the blade as it's master took up a ready stance with both hands gripping the hilt.

"Found your resolve, eh boy?"

"I need no resolve to know I must stop you. My desire to not fight remains, but I know you refuse to stand down. You are a danger to not only your own lands, but to yourself as well. I will finish what we started since you refuse to accept your loss."

"MY LOSS!" Aikamaru bulked. "What would you know of pride, half breed! You, a mere being that should not exist, thinks he knows of pride! I will prove to you what true pride is."

Pointing his pronged weapon at the hanyou as his aura oozed over it, the demon lord screamed "I will kill you! Haidorokattā!"

Launching from the tips of the three pronged spear was a blade of pressurized water cutting through the air horizontally.

Easily evading by flashing away, Iya quickly found himself in the crosshairs of the demon lord who had launched multiple water waves at his new location. Drawing Ketsaiga up over his head and slamming the blade into the ground, he coldly declared "Ice Barrier."

A wall of ice instantly formed before the hanyou that was three foot thick and over seven feet tall. The waves of pressurized water smashed into the wall of ice, with the first only managing to cut three inches deep. Following waves had similar effects, however, the stacked effects began chipping away at the defensive wall.

"_Ice Barrier is actually starting to take some damage. Hmm, he's determined to get through. I think it's about time to see if he remembers this little trick._"

Not letting up on his assault of the ice wall, the demon lord continued firing wave after wave of pressurized water. His vision suddenly focused on the figure of the dog hanyou fleeing from behind his precious defense and left in a wide open position.

Sneering, the demon lord started to turn and fire at him, however, he stopped when he sensed another presence behind the ice wall. Cackling, Aikamaru roared "That won't work a second time, half breed! Die!"

The water waves pouring from the prongs of the trident instantly stopped, only to be replaced by a single black and purple sphere of demonic energy. The sphere grew larger in size while it shot bolts of lightning out onto the ground and ripped it asunder.

"For all your cunning, you are nothing more than a stupid, miserable half breed. NOW DIE HALF BREED! Cero Oscuras!"

Enlarging for a moment, the sphere of energy suddenly shot forward as a massive swirling beam of purple and black demonic energy. The ground beneath the beam shuttered and broke apart from the tremendous force.

The massive beam smashed straight through the ice wall, disintegrating it on contact. Chunks of ice sprayed across the roof of the keep, along with the sound of a loud pain filled scream of the hanyou. A few moments passed before at long last the blast ended and the results of the attack lay bare to the demon lord.

Laying face down was the form of the dog hanyou, his body visibly broken and bleeding, his weapon in two.

Lips twitching into an evil grin, Aikamaru released an insanity filled laugh. "FOOL! Did you really think you could trick me again!"

"Yes."

Shifting his eyes to the air, the demon lord had no chance to react as he saw the dog hanyou coming downwards with his ice coated blade raised up over his head.

"Cold Wave." were the last words the demon lord heard as he was frozen solid by the beam of ice energy that hit him.

Driving his halberd into the skull of the Lord of the South, Iya coldly declared "Wind Slash."

White demonic energy burst forth from the ice coated weapon and caused the statue of the demon lord to explode. Large pieces of ice scattered across the roof and soon came to rest.

Taking up a new position several yards away from where the water demon had resided, the hanyou patiently waited as the ice chunks defrosted themselves and began the task of pooling itself together into one large puddle. After nearly two minutes, the water was completely collected and reformed into the form of the demon lord.

"How!" Aikamaru demanded.

Simply smirking, Iya coolly remarked "You were overconfident in thinking that I'd use my Zanhyō Ningyō in the same manner as before. I knew you wouldn't be fooled into attacking a bunshin like you had, so I switched things up a bit and went out myself. Good thing I did, because you wasted no power in eliminating my bunshin."

Grinding his teeth together loudly, the water demon snarled out "I HATE YOU!"

"I know."

Charging forward with no real plan of attack other than to murder his foe, the demon lord swung out at the hanyou with his trident, only to have his opponent flash away. Again and again, he followed through with the same actions, but like before, he could not connect. The hanyou merely flashed away or side stepped the incoming attacks.

"_As long as I'm playing it defensively, he'll have to continue using up more energy. I know for certain I can't last forever, but reacting to his attacks and either countering or evading uses way less energy. I wonder if he'll figure out what I'm doing though._"

Evading yet another slash meant to take off his head, the hanyou backed away several yards and watched the panting form of the demon lord. He had dug his weapon into the ground and leaned against it as he tried to catch his breath. Rage seemed to radiate from each and every pore of his body as he glared at the hanyou with furious light blue colored eyes.

"I... I... I WILL DESTROY YOU!"

"You will not." Iya retorted defiantly. "Rage and hatred are never the solution."

Seething at the words spoken to him in such a calm manner, Aikamaru started to yell something, however held his tongue. Taking several deep breaths, he clenched his free hand tightly and shut his eyes. Inhaling deeply till his breathing was at long last calm once more, he opened his eyes slowly to reveal a smug look on his face.

"Rage and hatred can never win you say? Tell me Iya, do you feel rage and hatred over your past? You have suffered many tragedies during your life."

Sneering, he added "After all, it was you that lost control of your demon blood as nothing more than a pup and ravaged that dirty human's body. To make matters worse, you impregnated her but never lifted a claw to aid her. Instead, she fled fearing you would have the pup killed. Tell me, does it shame you to know you created a bastard child like that half breed?"

Noting the hanyou seemed slightly affected by his words, Aikamaru internally felt pride and continued on. "And then there was your pitiful father's death. Rather than send his weakling son to deal with that dragon, the former Lord of the West went himself while sending you on an errand that took you far longer than it would have any other demon. You, a weakling half breed, could never have stood a chance against a dragon like **Ryukotsusei, and your father knew that. He had no choice but to deal with the dragon himself, however, he must have known he would die just so you could live. How tragic.**"

"And then there was that miko that died because of knowing you. She was truly pitiful. A simple human, befriending a half breed, it was so sickening. Her pathetic husband at least did her a favor and sent her to the great beyond. All the meanwhile, you lost control of yourself and killed innocent humans. Tell me, did it feel good to let go of yourself and indulge in the desires of your demon blood for once?"

"So many have suffered and died because of you, half breed. You say I am nothing more than a beast giving into it's anger, hatred, and pride, but let me point out that you do the same! Those beastly instincts within you no doubt control you just as much from time to time. So answer me hanyou, what drives you now! Does your beast hate me!"

Remaining silent for several long moments with his eyes hidden beneath the shadow of his bangs, the dog hanyou suddenly slashed out through the air with his halberd and shot a beam of icy energy directly at the water demon.

The demon never had a chance to react and was frozen on impact from the attack.

"Did you honestly think you could make me lose control of myself with those pathetic taunts and reminders of my past?" Iya questioned in an agitated tone. Raising his head to reveal his eyes were still calm, he muttered "You are so foolish that it is nearly sickening. I know of my past mistakes and what those around me have paid."

"Yes, I harmed Kaia long ago and not a day goes by that I don't regret it. However, I've made peace with myself over it, and now Yukio is a part of my life. He understands how much I regret my choices and what happened and has learned to accept me for who I am."

"As for my father's death, he knew that only he could stop **Ryukotsusei. Neither Sesshomaru or myself were strong enough back then to handle that dragon. Rather than lose one or both sons, he made a decision to do what he needed to so we could live on."**

**"Nariko's death still stings, but I know in my heart she was happy until the end and had no regrets for being my friend." Iya quietly said. Swallowing hard, he added in a trembling tone "It didn't matter to her that I was a hanyou. She even envied me in some ways."**

**"I can never forget what she did for me: she renewed my pride in being a half demon. I never once hated my heritage, but it was something that bothered me at times. All hanyous question their worth. We are torn between human and demon worlds right down the middle. Hanyous are not either one purely, so we feel so unsure of ourselves."**

**Closing his eyes momentarily before snapping them open, he stated "However, my father, my friends,**** my mate, and all those I have met over the years have all given me the strength to continue on, telling me that what I am doesn't matter. On the contrary, it's what you do that is important. Titles, rank, birth, heritage, they are all meaningless when you look at someone's self worth. That is why I no longer care what people call me. I maybe a worthless half breed in your eyes, but in the eyes of those that I strive to protect, I am precious, and similarly, they are precious to me. Nothing, and I mean nothing, means more to me than protecting them!"**

**Moving forward and stabbing the halberd deep into the ice statue, Iya coldly said "And I will protect all of them from your suicid****al plans. That's a promise! **Mō fubuki burittsu!"

Breaking apart instantly, the statue of ice that was the demon lord seemingly exploded and shot a storm cloud of sharpened ice daggers. The thousands of daggers scattered about the roof of the keep and embedded themselves into the ground, with very few flying over the edge of the roof.

The shards immediately began melting and the water slowly pooled back towards the center of the roof where the dog hanyou waited patiently. At long last, all of the demon lord's water had returned, causing the pool that had formed to start retaking his released form's shape. Standing tall once more while heavily panting, the water demon scowled at the hanyou.

"Mock me, will you!" Aikamaru roared as he brought his weapon up and ready to strike.

Without warning, Iya threw Ketsaiga directly at the demon lord. Thrown off by the move, the demon lord evaded by side stepping the attack. However, he was surprised further when the icy sword suddenly sliced off his head as it made a return arc.

Reforming his head again, the water demon quickly figured out the mystery. Attached to the hilt of the halberd was the hanyou's energy whip. Standing over fourteen yards away was the dog hanyou, whom was spinning his sword around by the whip attached to it.

Without warning, the spinning blade shot forward and grazed the demon lord's left shoulder. A bit of water splashed to the ground from the wound, however, ice suddenly froze over the wound, causing the demon to gasp softly. He had no time to react when the blade suddenly came back and slashed through his chest. His body immediately froze from the intrusion, leaving the blade frozen in his back and sticking out his chest.

Unfurling his other whip, Iya flung it straight at the demon's head, effectively lopping it off. Not done, he used his whip to continue carving up the statue to the point only large chunks of ice were left. Retracting his whips, he drew Ketsaiga back into his hands and readied for the demon lord's regeneration.

Reforming a few minutes later, Aikamaru released an insanity filled howl of anger. His purple aura flared wildly while he glared intensely at the hanyou. He suddenly stabbed his trident into the ground as his aura flared even higher than before. Without hesitation, he shot forward with fists drawn back.

Confused at the actions of his opponent, Iya took up a defensive position. The demon reached him quickly and proceeded to launch fist after fist at the hanyou in a desperate attempt to punch his body. Again and again, the hanyou nimbly evaded the hits.

Suddenly one of the whip like tails of the demon lord struck out at him, causing the dog hanyou to block with his sword. The tail wrapped tightly around the halberd, a move that shocked Iya. With a yank, the demon lord sent the weapon flying out of the hanyou's hands.

Sneering, Aikamaru shot another tail forward to strike Iya in the face. The tail was expertly caught and frozen by the hanyou's clawed hand.

Eyes widening a fraction, Iya realized the trap he had fallen into as a power laden fist of the demon lord smashed into his face right at his nose. The fist exploded and released water that sprayed into his eyes.

A pain filled scream erupted from the dog hanyou's mouth immediately from the blow. Releasing his hold on the water tail, he scrambled backwards several yards. His clawed hands ran over his face where the blow had hit. Steam poured off of his face, mainly from around his eyes. His skin was brighter red, revealing burns marring his porcelain skin.

"What the hell did you do to me! My eyes! I can't see!"

"Serves you right, half breed." Aikamaru stated in a smug tone. Holding his left hand up as the water in it reformed his fist, he smartly said "As I revealed to you earlier, I can change the speed of the molecules in my body, giving me the ability to thaw myself should I be frozen. That is not it's only use though. No, I can increase my body's temperature in the same manner, allowing me to boil the water within my current form."

Sneering and darkly chuckling, he declared "You just got a taste of that ability. I heated the water in my left hand and punched you in the face with boiling water. Your eyes are now useless to you in this fight."

"A blind mutt cannot win. Now I will take my time carving you up before dumping your corpse at your brother's feet. All of your boasting was for not, half breed. You never stood a chance!"

Padding over to where his weapon was, the demon lord drew it out of the ground and stared at the trembling hanyou that was still cradling his face. Drawing his weapon up and charging the hanyou, Aikamaru coldly said "Sayōnara Iya Taisho."

**Thanks everyone for reading the chapter. Now, if you could do me a kind favor and review to let me know what you think of the chapter, I'd appreciate it.**

**Meanings for certain words:**

_**Bunshin = clone**_

_**Zanhyō Ningyō = Lingering Ice Puppet/Doll**_

_**Ryūsenka = Dragon Hail Flower**_

_**Haidorokattā = Hydro Cutter**_

_**Sennen Hyōrō = Thousand Years' Ice Prison**_

_**Mō fubuki burittsu = Blizzard Blitz**_


	28. Chapter 28: Vanish

**Hey everyone. Well, I'm semi-on time this round for a chapter. Ok, I'm a few days off, but it's better than before, I suppose. Anyways, news with me, hmm, well, there is a bit. My one friend/coworker left his position last week for a job closer to where he grew up, which leaves me a bit sad. I'll miss him but I know it'll work out, hopefully. Work is about the same and leaves me still pondering my future. We're set through September of next year, which isn't the greatest motivation for me. It makes me feel a bit better, but not entirely. I am still keeping my eyes open for anything that may come along, just in case. Other than that, my mate and I are preparing for Thanksgiving this week. Ugh, 4 dinners to go through, lol. We have my step mom's family Monday, my dad's side Thursday, my mate's family Friday, and lastly my mom's side Saturday. Thankfully we won't have turkey Saturday, so at least there is one good thing. By the way, having a sinus infection sucks. I got it last week and it dragged on. I'm off to the doctor this afternoon to take care of it, once and for all, with antibiotics. Ah yes, one good thing that happened over the weekend was Tony Stewart won the Sprint Cup by winning the race. I'm sure no one cares about Nascar, but it's something I like and he is my favorite driver, so I thought I'd just pass it along, lol. That about sums up things for me.**

**Writing wise, as I said before, a bit behind, but not terribly bad. I was nearly done last week, but just didn't quite finish over the weekend. We had company and I was sick, so I didn't feel much like writing. However, I do have some time to do it this week, so with any luck, I'll get some done. I hope...**

**No reviews this time, which kind of surprised me, but oh well. I think 's alert system is on the fritz again since my mate didn't even get an alert that I had updated last chapter. Oh well, it happens. Lovely alerts system... I swear, I'm almost ready to go to PM only alerts again just to make sure the damn things get through.**

**At any rate, thanks to all my readers. I hope all of you have a great turkey day. I'll be drowning in gravy by then, lol. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 28**

Reaching out with his weapon extended to piece through the hanyou's head, Aikamaru sneered but suddenly lost his look when the half demon flashed away in awkward fashion.

Watching the dog hanyou skidding to a stop several yards away and seeing he was trying to get his bearings, the demon lord frowned. "You instinctively dodged. Even though you are blind, you still refuse to submit."

"In that case, I'll obliterate you! Cero Oscuras!"

Black and purple demonic energy immediately formed a small sphere at the tips of the pike of the demon lord. Spinning around to point the trident at his foe, the demon lord yelled "DODGE THIS!"

Transforming, the sphere widened and changed over into a beam of high density black and purple demonic energy. The beam shot straight towards the blinded hanyou.

In a flash, the attack landed a direct blow on it's target. Watching the blast score a hit, the demon lord burst out into loud insanity filled laughter.

"I'VE WON! AFTER ALL THAT HIGH AND MIGHTY TALK, YOU HAVE AT LONG LAST DIED, HALF BREED! LET THIS BE A TESTAMENT THAT NO ONE CAN DEFEAT THE LORD OF THE SOUTH, AIKAMARU!"

Slowly clearing, the smoke and dust from the explosion settled and revealed the destruction that had befallen the roof of the keep. A large gaping hole centered around where the beam had travelled and ripped through a few levels.

With the last of the dust and smoke clearing, a figure became visible to the water demon. His laughter immediately stopped as he could only help but gasp.

Standing still with his left arm stretched out and holding the black sheath that belonged to Ketsaiga was Iya. His body was intact, clothing unchanged, and no further wounds seemed to have been inflicted upon his body from the explosion. Short pants escaped his lips while he slightly whimpered from the effects of the burns on his face.

"You... you..." the demon lord started but stopped repeated. "... you should be dead!"

"I would have if not for this sheath. Like Tetsusaiga and Tenseiga, Ketsaiga's sheath has the ability to create a barrier that can withstand almost any attack at least once. That is why I live."

Still panting, the dog hanyou lowered his left arm gradually but held tightly onto the sheath within his grasp. Grunting lightly, he shifted his stance and held his scabbard up again and softly whispered "Ketsaiga, come."

Reacting to it's master's command, the icy halberd rose up from the ground and shot like an arrow towards the hanyou. Holding out his right hand, he expertly caught the blade.

"Impossible..." Aikamaru growled. "You're blind! You couldn't possibly of caught your sword!"

Wordlessly placing the sheath back into his obi, the blind hanyou remarked "Not really. Just because I'm blind doesn't mean I can't fight. True, you've weakened me by one sense, but there are ways of fighting without sight."

"When I was trained by my father, he taught me not to rely on sight alone. Sometimes sight can fail you, such as when an opponent uses illusions. My father knew this, so he taught me how to fight using my other senses. If one should fail, you have others. In the end, I learned how to take on an opponent without sight."

"Impossible!" the demon lord roared in response. "You cannot defeat me! Without your sight, you will lose this battle!"

"I won't die." Iya retorted in a stern tone. "I have far too many people waiting on me that I cannot afford to lose my life."

Growing angrier with each word spoken to him, Aikamaru snarled back "A mere half breed, mocking me and believing he is fighting with me on even ground! I will not have it!"

"Believe what you want, Lord Aikamaru. You may have taken my eyesight, however, that leaves me with five very sharp senses."

Pointing the blade of his sword at the demon lord, he added "You mock humans and hanyous, claiming we're weaker. Perhaps in some senses we are. However, the measure of our heart's strength is something you fail to take notice of. Time and time again, humans rise up to the challenge to protect that which is important to them. Hanyous are part human, thus we have the same indomitable drive to do the same. Even some demons have learned from humans and found that they too can do the same."

"Yet you, who believes only in his own strength, cannot ever best someone like me. It is for that reason you will lose this battle."

Holding his weapon out to his right side so that it pointed away, Iya placed his left hand on the back of the pommel while readjusting his grip on the upper part of it just below the guard. Taking a few steps towards where he knew the demon lord stood, he quietly said "Come."

Infuriated even further, the Lord of the South hurtled towards the dog hanyou headlong. The two crossed blades as before, with the sound of their clashing filling the air with the ringing of steel. Sparks sprayed to the ground from the intensity of the two steel weapons clashing.

Several high speed slashes proceeded from the demon lord. Each time, the dog hanyou was able to parry the attacks and even added a few counterattacks of his own into the mix.

"I DON'T UNDERSTAND!" the demon lord exclaimed as his cheek received a gash from the hanyou's sword. Retaliating with a series of rapid slashes meant to cut the dog hanyou down, he roared "HOW CAN THIS HAPPEN! I AM THE LORD OF THE SOUTHERN LANDS!"

Pushed back and receiving another cut on his right shoulder from a winded hanyou, the demon lord screamed "HOW CAN A MERE BLIND HALF BREED, A BEING THAT SHOULD NOT EXIST, BE DOING THIS!"

"WIND SLASH!"

The blast of white demonic energy easily tore the body of the demon lord apart, sending water spewing in different directions. Water drenched the tiles of the roof, however, it did not soak in as the water began pooling back into a large puddle.

Panting heavily, Iya drew Ketsaiga up over his head, causing the icy steam pouring off of it to increase once more. "COLD WAVE!" he screamed as he brought the blade downwards.

A blast of cold demonic energy shot forward instantly and froze the pooling water.

"Take this! Wind Slash!"

Another burst of white demonic energy roared across the keep and slammed hard into the large portion of ice. Hunks of ice were sent flying through the air and rained down in across the floor of the top of the keep.

Falling to one knee and digging Ketsaiga into the ground to help steady himself, Iya felt his body starting to tremble. Sweat soaked his black kimono and his hair, revealing the extent of how much exertion he had been putting out from the battle.

"_Even__now__he__that__much__power__left.__I'm__running__low__and__can't__continue__to__fight__at__this__level__too__much__longer.__I__guess__I__have__but__one__choice__left...__I__can__only__hope__that__it__succeeds__this__time._"

Images of his friends and family filled the dog hanyou's mind and started appearing, reminding him how much he had on the line. First his elder brother, then his younger. His long time comrade and partner who helped him fight The Thirteen. More images of his sister-in-laws formed, along with the sight of his nieces and nephews. The mate of his partner appeared along side of the group. Numerous others appeared as well, many whom he had known for years.

The last to form was his mate. Her jade eyes stared straight at him, revealing all the love she had reserved for him alone. A smile on her face and a trusting gleam made him realize just how much she loved, trusted, and believed in him.

Forcing himself to his feet, the dog hanyou winced and nearly doubled over from the pain. His body protested from the action, however slowly he rose back up.

Feeling his sword pulsate, Iya tightened his grip on his sword. "_Ketsaiga,__I__need__your__help.__Only__you__can__help__me__perform__this__last__move.__Regardless__of__the__outcome,__this__will__be__our__last__attack__against__Lord__Aikamaru._"

Sensing a pulsation that seemed to call back to him, the dog hanyou nodded his head. Holding the blade directly in front of himself, he summoned forth his light blue demonic aura and Ketsaiga's as well.

The very air of the keep seemed to chill drastically compared to before. Swirling ice, snow, and wind rounded the blade of the sword with great intensity.

At the same time, the chunks of ice that had been blown about the roof of the keep had finally melted and were pooling back into a large puddle. Rising up gradually, the body of the water demon was reconstituted with him panting heavily from the blows he had received. Seeing the dog hanyou standing some distance away with his aura flaring, he ground his teeth and smashed his foot into the floor of the keep, effectively destroying some of the tiles in it.

"Lord Aikamaru, this is the end. I'll end this in an instant." Iya declared.

Lightly chuckling with a sneer spread on his face, Aikamaru retorted "Foolish half breed, I will gladly take your pathetic life from you. Let's finish this."

The demon lord's sickly purple aura flared to life instantly and began blazing brightly. His pike was coated in the glow, giving it an even more eerie look. A low growl vibrated within his throat as his aura seemed to intensify further.

Wordlessly, the two suddenly charged one another. The icy wind around the ice sword seemed to blow about awkwardly and emitted a wave of coldness that chilled the very air. At the same time, the water trident gave off the perfect picture of darkness as the sickly purple aura swirled around it rapidly.

About to reach his foe for the last time, Iya cried out "Kōri no shōshitsu!"

The very words of the hanyou made the icy blade's light blue aura transform into a blinding white light that made the demon lord hesitate for a moment.

That moment was all the dog hanyou needed for an opening and slashed out at the demon across the chest. The blow connected just briefly, however, this caused a brilliant flash of white to blanket the Southern Keep.

000

000

Witnessing the blinding light off in the distance, Orihime came to a skidding stop and shielded her vision best she could without dropping an unconscious Ichigo from her back.

"What the hell is this light!" she gritted out as she squatted down onto the ground and gently let the unconscious form of her mate roll off. "It's so intense!"

Reaching out with her senses as she squinted in the direction of the burst, her eyes widened a fraction while a small gasp came from her lips. "Iya..."

Hearing her mate whimper slightly, she glanced down at him to see Ichigo's brow was furrowed and he seemed to be cringing. "_Can__he__sense__that?_"

Returning her vision towards the direction of the now dying light, she clasped her hands together but couldn't help but let out another gasp of surprise. The air had suddenly chilled and snow was starting to blow into where she was.

"Be alright, please."

000

000

Staring up at the roof of the keep in awe, many of the Western and Northern soldiers couldn't help but marvel at the intense light and power they felt coming from it. Even the soldier of the Southern Lands seemed awestruck at light.

Looking up at the keep himself, the Lord of the West's lips twitched into a smile.

"Lord Sesshomaru, that light, could it be Lord Iya?" Takahashi questioned.

Remaining silent for a few more moments, the demon lord at long last replied "That is this Sesshomaru's brother."

"Amazing..." the hawk demon remarked in a one word answer.

The pair of demons suddenly felt the air chill as snow began to fall to the ground at an alarming rate, to the point an inch was on within a few seconds. At the same time, ice coated the massive stone structure, incasing it within a few inches thick of the frozen water.

"General Takahashi, take command of the battle here. This Sesshomaru shall return soon." the demon lord stated as he sheathed his weapon and took to the air.

"Hai, Lord Sesshomaru."

000

000

With their backs to one another, the dog hanyou and the demon lord stood perfectly still as their tired bodies trembled. Heavy puffs of air poured from each mouths, revealing just how cold the air was.

The ground was covered in nearly six inches of ice that was steaming due to the difference in air temperature. Snow fell from the sky and coated the ground in a few inches quickly and continued to pour down.

Iya gritted his teeth as his body begged him to give into the tiredness that had been plaguing him for some time. He still refused, however, his legs disobeyed his will and started to give out. In a sudden movement, he stabbed Ketsaiga through the ice covering the roof. Resting some of his weight on the blade, he felt his body trying to drag him into the darkness of unconsciousness, yet he resisted.

Without warning, loud laughter filled the air. Turning to face the hanyou, Aikamaru smugly declared "That was pointless attack. You have lost, half breed."

"Have I?" Iya retorted in a bored tone. Carefully, he repositioned his body so that he faced the demon lord. Lifting a clawed hand up while using the other to steady himself, the hanyou pointed at the demon lord and asked "Do you really think my last attack did nothing?"

About to answer, the demon lord suddenly felt an odd sensation within his body. Sprouting suddenly from the wound the hanyou had inflicted upon him were ice crystals. Similarly, the remainder of his body became difficult to move much like how when frozen.

"A time lapsed attack? That was your big plan? Don't make me laugh. You know as well as I do that I can just thaw out. Let me remind you, fool!"

Clenching his free hand, the demon lord attempted to accelerate the molecules within his body like normally to heat himself up. To his great surprise, nothing happened. He found they would not move at all, leaving his body to continue icing over. A gasp escaped his mouth when his eyes traveled down to his chest to find that some of the ice crystals broke off and floated away into the air. The wound seemed to grow deeper but his body did not regenerate.

"What the ..." he growled. Throwing an angry glare at the half demon, he snarled out "What have you done to me!"

Reversing Ketsaiga back to it's smaller katana form and returning it to it's sheath, Iya coolly replied "Kōri no shōshitsu, an attack I developed in preparation for the final battle here in the South. To put it simply, it slowly freezes whatever my target is from the inside out, but differently than Cold Wave or my other attacks. That ice gradually freezes a target from the inside out."

"However, there is a catch. Whatever is frozen by my attack cannot exist outside of severely cold temperatures. The current air temperature here in the Southern Lands is far too warm, so the ice is seemingly vanishing without a trace. That is why my attack is called Kōri no shōshitsu. The one struck by this attack will simply vanish once and for all."

"No, no, no! I will not die at the hands of some weakling half breed!" Aikamaru roared as he tried to move his body. Finding he had some movement, he struggled towards the hanyou, only to suddenly feel his left leg become completely useless. Trying to force movement, he gasped in shock when the leg broke off and fell to the ground as a frozen chunk of ice. The ice instantly shattered and vaporized back into the air.

"This is the end, Lord Aikamaru." Iya quietly stated.

Shaking his head rapidly and trying to hobble towards his foe by using his pike as a crutch, the demon lord roared "I will not be humiliated by a worthless piece of trash! I am the Lord of the Southern Lands! No half breed piece of trash will kill me! I am the supreme demon of these lands and cannot be bested by you!"

"You still refuse to accept reality." the dog hanyou tiredly remarked. "Even now, with your life coming to an end, you refuse to acknowledge that you have lost. It is truly sad the kind of death you are experiencing, Lord Aikamaru."

"Do not talk down to me, trash!" Aikamaru screamed as he managed to inch closer. Without warning, his left arm broke off and fell to the ground. It shattered into millions of pieces before being blown away by a small gust of wind. The remainder of his body was slowly breaking down as well, with the pieces being swept away.

"I pity you, Lord Aikamaru."

Grinding his teeth, the demon lord spat out "I DO NOT NEED YOU SYMPATHY, HALF BREED!"

Taking a few steps forward before coming to a halt four feet from the Lord of the South, the dog hanyou quietly said "A shame that you have yet to understand the truth that you were presented with."

"And what truth is that!"

"It's the truth that stares you in the face, Lord Aikamaru." the hanyou politely said. "All of these years you boasted about your strength that no one could ever match you nor even have a chance at defeating yourself in combat. You killed any who stood in your way and stole from those that were weaker than you. Yet here you are at the end of your life with nothing to show for it."

"It is a sad existence for those that when they die will leave behind no legacy. You have no mate, no heir, no one to remember you. Your rule has brought nothing to these lands but pain and suffering. When you die, no one will miss you because of how you treated your subjects. That in itself is terrible enough."

A deep, throaty growl erupted from the demon lord's throat as he lunged forward with his weapon in full swing. Before it could even reach the hanyou's body, his hand separated from his wrist and went sailing with his weapon in tow. The two fell to the ground and shattered on impact. A small gust of wind was all it took to send the remains flying away into nothingness.

Aikamaru's impulsive attack had far more reaching consequences. The abrupt movement caused his remaining leg to buckle and sever. His torso fell to the ground and broke him clean in half with many jagged pieces of ice scattering along the roof. Large portions of his body faded away into the wind while only his chest and head remained.

"How humiliating..." he muttered as he closed his light blue eyes. Hearing footsteps, his eyes opened to find the hanyou standing over him and staring down at him. Throwing one last glare up as he felt the darkness dragging him away from the world of the living, the demon lord darkly said "I will see you in Hell, half breed."

The last of the proud Lord of the South vanished little by little in the blink of an eye as a gentle breeze swept across the roof of the keep.

"It's over..." Iya whispered. The stress that had been held within his body melted away as he let a small smile escape. Picking up a new sound, his ears swiveled in the direction of the edge of the keep where the courtyard would lie. The soaring sound soon ended and the sound of someone landing on the keep filled his ears. Sniffing the air to determine the identity of his new companion, the dog hanyou immediately figured out whom had joined him.

At a unhurried pace, the Lord of the Western Lands approached his brother. The breeze blew his top's long flowing sleeves about, causing a whipping sound. His steps were soft as the snow beneath them crunched.

Only a few feet from his brother, the dog demon stared at the feet of the hanyou to find only a few scraps of ice particles blowing about.

"This Sesshomaru congratulates you, brother."

Turning towards his elder brother slowly, Iya slightly smiled and replied "Thanks Sesshomaru."

"Your eyes?"

"Oh, he threw some boiling water in my face. I can't see a thing at the moment. I'm hoping my body can heal them, or at worst I could have Orihime heal me." Iya explained.

"Hn." was the only one word response.

Raising his head up towards the sky, the dog hanyou softly said "I suppose we need to finish cleaning up."

"You have done enough, Iya. Worry not about anything else. Rest for now." Sesshomaru strongly stated. "This Sesshomaru has one last thing he must do for his troops."

Confused at his brother's words, the hanyou suddenly felt himself starting to feel the effects of the battle and the fatigue his body had been fighting off was hitting him at full force. Too tired to care any longer, he sank to his knees and laid down. The last thing he remembered as the darkness took him was the sound of his brother coming to his side and the feeling of two arms picking him up.

000

000

"Is that all of them?"

"Hai Lord Sesshomaru. We have collected all the bodies that we could identify as our troops." a tired General Kimura replied. He had numerous gashes in his armor, along with some that had penetrated it and drawn his fire demon blood.

Nodding his head and closing his eyes momentarily, Sesshomaru opened his amber eyes and reached out with his right hand to the blue-laced sword in his obi. The elegant dog demon slowly drew the blade out of it's black sheath and soon had it fully out. Swinging it to his right side, he brought the blade up to in front of his face. A pulsation reverberated throughout the sword that was visible only to the dog demon. Again, the blade pulsated as the demon lord looked towards the rows of dead soldiers that had been under his command.

Weak looking gray skinned imps that were translucent and invisible appeared into the demon lord's vision. The creatures seemed to realize they were seen as they turned their gaze upon the dog demon and cowered in fear.

"_Yes__Tenseiga,__show__them__all__to__me._"

Feeling a pulse of his sword that seemed to obey, the dog demon swept the sword through the air in the direction of the imps. A blast of white demonic aura in the form of a crescent moon shot out, invisible to all but the weakling imps and the demon lord. The crescent moon blade cut through one hundred of the huddling creatures.

Not done yet, Sesshomaru swung his blade thrice move, each swing sending out a blade of pure white energy at the imps.

Finished, the dog demon sheathed his weapon and turned away. His remaining soldiers that had witnessed the event all looked on in confusion, however their confusion was replaced when they heard loud groans.

Sitting up, the soldiers that had been laid out in rows that were dead looked around. Some stood, while others frowned and asked what had happened.

Cheers were heard behind the demon lord as he stalked away. Hearing them, his lips curved slightly into a small smile.

000

000

"Ugh, I feel horrible..."

"You should after the kind of fight you had."

Eyes peeling open to find a stern looking Inuyasha glaring down at her, Lilly closed her eyes and let out a low groan. Gently, she brought her clawed hand up and palmed her face, careful not to scratch herself with her claws.

"How long was I out?"

Grabbing a pitcher of water of a nearby table, the dog hanyou poured out a cup of water while saying "Two days. You're the first to wake up."

"First?" Lilly asked in confusion as she cracked her emerald eyes open.

"Yoshe hasn't come to yet."

"Ah, I see." the neko replied. Finding her brother-in-law in front of her again with a cup of water in hand extended towards her, she reached out for it. Carefully, she sat up and slowly took a drink of the cool water. Handing it back, she swung her legs off of the futon she had been laying on and tried to force her body back onto it's feet. About half way up, she nearly fell backwards if not for a strong hand catching her own and hauling her on up.

Smiling warmly at Inuyasha, she softly said "Thank you."

Not responding, the silver haired hanyou turned away and set the cup back down onto the low table. Silence engulfed the room for a few moments before the dog hanyou turned back with a look of anger swimming in his features.

"Do you know how reckless you were?" Inuyasha grit out, showing just how difficult it was for him to keep his temper in check.

Deciding to play coy, the neko started to respond but was cut off by the furious face of the dog hanyou. "No joking around, Lilly! I know your secret! Hell, I'd be willing to bet everyone here does that has any sense of smell! So tell me why you took such a dangerous risk! Don't you know what could have happened to you during that fight! Iya will kill me if he finds out what you've done!"

"Inuyasha, I..." Lilly started but couldn't continue. Looking away, she mumbled "I couldn't let Yoshe go alone."

"Damn it Lilly, was it more important than ..."

"I know what I risked!" Lilly interrupted. Taking a deep breath, she whispered "I knew the risks involved in going with Yoshe. But I also knew the risks of Yoshe going alone to fight Sasuke, and those alone outweighed the other dangers. I could never abandon someone who needed me as much as she did. It wasn't for my own pride or proving to everyone that I can fight. No, it was about helping her do what was needed. I just couldn't let her go alone, knowing that she could die there because we weren't able to team up."

Looking back at her brother-in-law with tears sliding down her cheeks, she asked "Do you understand that?"

Fury slipping away as he took a deep breath, Inuyasha weakly nodded his head. "I do."

"Then try to understand that it wasn't by design that things were the way they were. I only did what I felt was right in my heart. That's why I went with her."

"Inuyasha, don't be so harsh on her. I'm sure she feels bad enough as it is."

Turning to find the person that spoke up just then was his mate, the silver haired hanyou started to respond but saw a look in his mate's honey colored eyes that dared him to respond. Knowing he was bested and not wanting to get a face full of stone, he grudgingly grunted out "Feh."

Walking over to the neko, Kagome placed a caring hand onto her shoulder and smiled. "I'm sorry for how he is. He was just worried. In fact, we both were when we found out. I just have one question for you: why didn't you tell me?"

"I, uh, well..." Lilly mumbled as she looked away. In a shamed voice, she whispered "I knew you'd tell me not to go."

"You knew before the battle!" Inuyasha all but roared.

Throwing a glare at her mate with a low throaty growl, Kagome grit out "Inuyasha..."

"Wait Kagome, I didn't mean it! I ..."

"SIT BOY!"

Responding to their master's command, the purple prayer beads around the male hanyou's neck glowed to life and dragged him into the stone floor with a resounding thump and a loud yelp from their wearer.

"Jerk." the miko hanyou muttered. Returning her attention to the neko, whom was sweat dropping, the miko threw a small smile at her and asked "Now then, care to explain?"

Knowing she had no choice, Lilly quietly said "Well, the truth is, I knew only a few days before the battle. Tsunade confronted me about it too, but I swore her to secrecy. Don't be mad at her, please. It was my decision. She helped me hide it a bit better so no one else would pick up on the fact either. I didn't tell you because I knew you would try to convince me not to go."

Taking in the information her sister-in-law told her, Kagome let out a heavy sigh and replied with "Well, it doesn't matter now I guess. Things worked out."

Grinning, she asked "How are you going to break the news to Iya?"

Lilly instantly blanched at the question. Looking away and wrapping her arms around her stomach, the neko mumbled "I'm not sure..."

000

000

"I'm tired of being cooped up in here! Damn it!"

"Ichigo..." Orihime tiredly sighed. Walking over to her mate that had his fist grinding against the stone wall, she gently placed her hand onto his shoulder and turned him towards her and embraced him tightly.

"It's too dangerous for you to go out wondering about right now. In your human form, any demon could try and kill you here. You know that the Southern Lands aren't too keen on having any humans here, so try to understand. It's just for a few more days."

Breaking free from her embrace and smashing his fist against the wall again, he growled out "I know..."

"_I__can't__leave__this__damn__room__for__at__least__another__three__days.__Until__my__powers__fully__return,__I'm__a__sitting__duck.__I__hate__being__human!__Like__this,__I__can't__do__anything__at__all!__If__Orihime__and__I__were__attacked,__there__is__no__way__I__could__protect__her.__Damn__it,__I__should__never__have__used__the__Final__Getsuga__Tenshō!_"

"Damn you're so noisy." a voice declared.

Turning to find the form of his former partner resting in the doorframe, the orange haired human grunted "Leave us alone."

"Trying to get some alone time? Surely you've had plenty since you've been sealed up in this room." Iya joked with a sly smile.

Blushing at his friend's comment, the quarter demon turned human fired back "Shut up!"

Changing expressions to a more serious one, the dog hanyou softly said "Thanks for dealing with Sephiroth. If you hadn't, I don't know if I would have beaten Aikamaru."

"Don't worry about it." the orange haired man remarked as he turned away from his friend and walked towards his bed.

"And I'm sorry that you lost your powers just to beat him."

Freezing in place, Ichigo let out a light sigh before turning back to find a sad smile on the hanyou's face. "They're not gone for good. Just for a few more days. It's the price I have to pay for such high level power."

"It was a steep price to pay regardless." Iya sincerely commented. "I am truly sorry you have to go through this. I know being human isn't easy when you're surrounded by demons."

Glancing at the bobcat demoness, he smoothly added "No offense meant."

"None taken." Orihime responded with a small smile.

"It'll be alright. At least it's temporary. A few more days stuck in here is it." Ichigo remarked with sarcasm dripping from his voice. "Besides, shouldn't you be resting? I heard you had a rough go of things too."

"Yeah, well, I'm almost back to normal." Iya retorted with a small smirk. "Thanks to Orihime, I can see again, plus my body has mostly recovered. I'm not at the level I was prior to my battle, but I'm close enough that if someone attacks me they'll regret it."

Silence engulfed the group of three for a few moments before Ichigo spoke up and asked "Any word on the Southern Lands Army?"

Iya immediately shook his head, saying "Not yet. We sent a message to them telling them that we've captured the capital and that their Southern Lord is dead. Hopefully they'll agree to the terms that Sesshomaru laid out."

"And that would be?" the orange haired man asked.

"Do you really not know, Ichigo?" Orihime chided.

Nodding his head, Iya remarked "Yeah, it's kind of the most humiliating thing Sesshomaru and Kouga could do to them. Unconditional surrender."

Frowning for a moment, the human asked "Will they go for it?"

"They have no choice now. Without Aikamaru, Grimmjow, or Sephiroth, they have no natural leader that can defend them at this point. Even if there was someone, with the loss of the Southern Keep, it's only a matter of time before they would be overwhelmed. We could squeeze their forces from both sides and they could never recover."

"How could we..."

"Don't forget, our army was resurrected by the power of Tenseiga." the hanyou stated.

Understanding, Ichigo nodded his head and replied "I guess so. I just hope this thing ends soon."

"Why, big plans?" Iya asked with a mischievous smirk on his face.

"N-No..." the quarter demon turned human stuttered.

000

000

"Lord Sesshomaru."

Not bothering to stop signing his paper work, the demon lord spoke up, saying "Enter."

Stepping into the room, General Hayashi fell to one knee in a low bow and awaited permission to speak. A minute passed and the dog demon started to lose patience with the demon lord but knew better than say anything.

"What is it, General Hayashi?"

Taking that as his queue, the general rose up and said "My Lord, we have received word from the remainder of the Southern Lands forces."

Stopping in mid-stroke, the amber eyed demon raised his head and asked "What say they?"

"They have surrendered, Lord Sesshomaru. There was one request though."

Receiving a motion to continue, the general added "They requested that you meet with the clan lords and speak with them about what will become of the Southern Lands. I believe they think you will merge these lands with your own, my Lord."

"They do not understand what 'unconditionally surrender' means." the dog demon lord mused aloud. A moment passed before he said "This Sesshomaru shall humor them. Tell them we shall meet in two weeks. That should be sufficient time for them to receive their message and to arrive here."

"Very well, Lord Sesshomaru. I shall send word." Hayashi replied. With a deep bow, he left the room, leaving the demon lord to his work once more.

000

000

"This is so boring..." Inuyasha whined.

Throwing a weak grin at her brother-in-law, Lilly remarked "Someone had to go through Sasuke's stuff and see what he had planned."

"But why me!" the dog hanyou quipped irritably.

"Well, I did volunteer, and since I've been up and about, you won't let me out of your sights. This is the price you pay for tailing me." the neko cheekily replied.

Glaring at his brother's mate, Inuyasha growled out "You did this on purpose, didn't you?"

"Maybe." Lilly slyly retorted. "Besides, you don't hear Tsunade complaining."

**Continue**

"Anything is better than being stuck down there with all those perverts." Tsunade darkly muttered as she flipped through a book. Looking up, she clenched her fist and let out a low growl as she said "You try and save those bastards lives and all they do in return is ogle me! If my mating mark wasn't enough of a clue that I'm taken, I don't know what the hell is!"

Chuckling at the dog demoness, the neko remarked "Poor Kagome is still down there making rounds on the injured. Perhaps you should go be with her, Inuyasha. She could use your protection from ..."

"Ah hell no, you're not tricking me!" the dog hanyou barked. Stuffing his hands in his sleeves, he grunted out "Besides, you don't need to remind me of the current predicament. I gave my word I'd stay near you, even if it meant I had to let Kagome go down there and take care of those bastards. I won't break my word."

Sighing as she continued searching through the office of the former demon lord, the neko hanyou suddenly stopped when she caught sight of a gleam coming from behind a row of scrolls on a shelf near the window. Curious of it, she pulled the scrolls out to discover a crystal ball sitting upon a thick purple pillow.

"What is this?"

Carefully, Lilly lifted the crystal ball up and examined it for a few moments. She at last gave up on trying to decipher what the object was and walked over to where the dog demoness sat.

"Tsunade?"

"Hn?"

Pushing the ball down closer to the demoness, she asked "Do you know what this is?"

Amber eyes flicked up for a moment before returning to her book. Suddenly stopping, the demoness looked up again and set the book aside and said "That's interesting..."

"What?" Lilly questioned.

"Let me see that."

"What you two find?" Inuyasha asked as he edged near the pair. Seeing the crystal ball, a scowl became etched into his features. "A chunk of glass?"

"Not just any chunk of glass." Tsunade answered as she reached out and took the sphere. She carefully inspected every inch of the sphere's surface for nearly a minute before stopping and rubbing her claws against an etching on the bottom.

"A spell insignia? That's a new one."

"What is this thing?" the neko inquired.

After another minute of silence, the dog demoness coolly replied "This is a crystal ball. They are similar to the mirror that Ryo possesses. As you might remember, that mirror is able to locate a person anywhere. Crystal balls are similar, however not as powerful. They are somewhat more limited and thus their search radius isn't as wide as his mirror."

"So what could Sasuke have been doing with this?" Inuyasha posed.

Examining the insignia still with a trained eye, Tsunade remarked "The insignia gives me a hint to what it was for. You see, this insignia links this object to another. That means there is a second one somewhere that would respond to this crystal ball."

"Linked?" Lilly asked with confusion on her face.

"Yes, that's right. The spell insignia links the two together. My guess is they were used to make communications with someone. The two crystal balls would be linked by the insignia, thus allowing the two users to speak and see one another."

"Sounds like something in Kagome's time..." Inuyasha mumbled to himself. "Could we turn this one on to find where the other is?"

Nodding her head in response, the demoness said "Yes, we could. I don't know where the other would be, but surely someone will be there with it."

"Then let's do it. We need to figure out who has the other." the neko stated.

"Alright then. Just give me a moment. Can you get me something to set this thing on?"

Moving back over to the shelf where she had found the crystal ball in the first place, the neko picked up the pillow there and brought it back. Setting it down on the low desk of the former lord, she motioned for the demoness to set the sphere onto it.

"Okay, everything seems ready. Here we go." Tsunade said. Reaching out, she used the tips of her claws to send a small surge of demonic aura into the sphere.

The sphere slowly reacted and came to life with a blinding white light. A few moments later, the light faded to reveal a dark room within the sphere. Voices could be heard nearby, prompting the three to believe they might be able to find the owner of the other sphere.

"Hello? Can anyone hear me?" the demoness asked aloud. Here the voices questioning what the sound was, she again called out, saying "In here. You're getting closer."

A few moments passed before a bit of blinding white light filled the room from a sliding door being opened. Footsteps neared them and at last, a soldier appeared in front of the sphere.

"What is this thing?" one voice questioned.

"Hello, can you hear me?" Tsunade asked.

The view the trio had suddenly elevated as the sphere was heaved up and soon had the face of a wolf demon staring into the sphere. Frowning for a moment, the demon asked "Who is this?"

"I am Tsunade Senju, one of the ..."

"Tsunade Senju? But how can that be. You're part of the army that was taken off to fight in the Eastern Lands!" the soldier exclaimed.

"Where are you then?"

"Well, I'm at the Southern Keep, namely outside of the room where former Lord Aikamaru held meetings."

"Former?" Lilly spoke up with hope in her words.

Nodding his head in reply, the wolf said "Yes, he was defeated by one of the heirs of the Western Lands, Lord Iya Taisho."

A small grin slowly spread across the lips of the neko hanyou as she whispered "Thank goodness, he won his battle."

"I see." the demoness stated. Knowing they were diverting from the true task at hand, she cleared her throat and asked "Is Lord Sesshomaru still at the Southern Keep?"

"Yes, he is still here."

"Please bring this item to him. It is of utmost importance that we speak with him." the dog demoness strongly said.

"Very well my lady, I will take this to him. Please hold on." the wolf remarked.

000

000

"LORD SESSHOMARU!" squealed several demonesses as the dog demon walked down the halls of the Southern Keep. The women were off to the sides of the wide halls, but each yearned to close the distance between themselves and the dog demon lord.

"You sure are popular." Iya stated at his brother's side.

Earning himself a grunt, the hanyou inwardly chuckled, however, that was washed away by the fact several of the young demonesses kept their eyes locked on himself with lust pouring from their eyes.

"_Ever__since__we__captured__the__keep,__these__damn__women__keep__throwing__themselves__at__Sesshomaru__and__myself.__It's__so__irritating__that__they__think__we__will__mate__them__on__a__whim__or__make__them__our__concubines__and__use__them__for__whatever__we__want.__I'm__trying__to__be__nice__and__all,__but__this__is__starting__to__piss__me__off.__I__wonder__how__he__deals__with__it__so__well._"

Throwing a death glare at the women, the dog demon silenced his adoring fans for the moment, but only for a few moments.

At last away from the hallway filled with women and entering into the area of the keep where the former lord had resided, the pair were met by a frantic wolf demon. He bowed deeply and had something under his arm.

Recognizing the demon instantly and lightly irritated due to his rank like always, Iya motioned for the wolf to rise. "Captain Sakai, what's wrong?"

"Lords Sesshomaru and Iya, I found an object in former Lord Aikamaru's meeting room that came to life on its own."

"On its own?" Sesshomaru sternly questioned in an intimidating tone.

Noting the captain cowering a bit from his brother's words, the hanyou inwardly sighed and calmly asked "Captain, what is the object?"

Comforted by the tone of his superior a bit, Sakai pulled the crystal ball he had concealed under his arm and presented it to the pair.

Taking the crystal ball, Iya ran his eyes over it momentarily until he noticed inside was the images of the former Thirteen member, his younger brother, and most importantly, his mate.

"Tsunade, Inuyasha, Lilly..." the hanyou whispered.

**Meanings for certain words:**

_**Kōri no shōshitsu = Vanishing Ice**_

**Thanks everyone for reading the chapter. Now, if you could do me a kind favor and review to let me know what you think of the chapter, I'd appreciate it. Till next time!**


	29. Chapter 29: Believe

**Hey gang! So sorry this is late. I've had a very, very stressful last few weeks. Last time I mentioned my coworker left and he is still gone. I kinda miss having him around, which is evident when I have questions on something I'm working on but he's not around to help with them. Anyways, in the meantime, I've received a call about a job for myself. It's about fifty-five minutes away and the company does some things similar to what we do here, but with more people. I interviewed with them this past week and it seemed to go over well, though I blanked out on one or two things. I don't really want to leave my current job due that I'm happy here, however, and this is the important part, they don't seem inclined to hire people into this office again. We've asked and no answer, so yeah, it pisses me off and worries me, especially when we do seven people's job with two. Anyways, last week we had our office Christmas party, which was great. I got a coat for working at the company for five years, plus an X-Box 360 as one of the gifts. So far the X-Box is fun, and I'm looking forward to more time with it. Other than that, not too much new in life, other than just being busy and trying to prepare for Christmas. It's just that time of the year, lol.**

**Writing wise, things looked good on this chapter originally, but kind of fell off towards the end. I had it nearly ready last week, but things fell apart to the point I couldn't finish. I tried most of the week to finish up, but yesterday was the last straw and this morning I put the finishing touches on the chapter. Again, my apologies on taking so long to post. I'll try hard to get another out soon.**

**Thanks to Katana for your review. I always enjoy seeing what you have to say.**

**At any rate, I think that's good enough for now. Until next time. Btw, in case I don't post before Christmas, everyone have a Merry Christmas! Enjoy!**

**Chapter 29**

Stepping into a large room that had been deemed the meeting place by the clan lords of the Southern Lands, Sesshomaru glanced over all of the occupants. Altogether, there were fifteen clan heads there, each decked out in their finest to meet with their conqueror.

"Lord Sesshomaru!" all declared as they immediately fell to their knees with their heads bowed.

Moving to the front of the room and glaring down each of the occupants, the demon lord declared "What is it you wish to speak with this Sesshomaru about? Make it quick, for this Sesshomaru has his own things to discuss."

Noticing his fellow clan lords trembling slightly, a demon near the front of the group stood and bowed shortly to the Lord of the West. He had sandy blonde hair that fell to his shoulders in length, fair skin, a medium sized build, pointed ears, and slit hazel colored eyes. The clothing he wore gave off an air of importance. It consisted of a purple and golden stripped top and pants, held together by a golden colored obi. At his side sat a katana sheathed in a brown lacquered sheath.

"Lord Sesshomaru, I, Takeshi Sanjo, head of the neko clans, shall speak for the clans of the Southern Lands." the demon politely and concisely stated. "First most and formally, we welcome you into our lands not as a conqueror, but as the one that has saved our families and our very livelihoods. Former Lord Aikamaru began this war without our consent and thus placed all of us in awkward positions to where ..."

"This Sesshomaru has no time to hear your petty excuses for why this war began. Speak if you must, for if not, this Sesshomaru shall discuss what he came here for." the demon lord firmly declared to the neko demon.

Taken back slightly by the statement, Takeshi nodded his head and apologetically replied "My deepest apologies, Lord Sesshomaru. I did not mean to insult you."

Inhaling deeply, he continued on and said "We have asked you to come here today, my lord, to discuss what will become of our lands when you incorporate them into the Western Lands. All of our clans are completely loyal to the Western Lands rule and do not have any objections to being under your rule. We wish only to be recognized by ..."

"Your lands will not become part of the West."

Several surprised gasps were heard within the room. Irritated by his fellow clan lords, the neko managed to throw a glare at them and put them back into an uncomfortable silence. Gathering his thoughts, the sandy haired demon asked "I do not mean any disrespect, Lord Sesshomaru, but what do you mean we will not become a part of the Western Lands?"

Turning cold amber eyes upon the speaker of the group, the demon lord retorted "You did not misunderstand this Sesshomaru's words, did you? Your lands will not become a part of this Sesshomaru's lands. Adding your lands to this Sesshomaru's protection would increase what is already in this Sesshomaru's grasp, that is true, however, this Sesshomaru has no desire to take them into the dominion of the West."

"Your lands however will not be forsaken. They shall be ruled by a new Southern Lord, thus keeping these lands as they were prior to the war."

Perking up at the words of the dog demon, the neko inwardly grinned at the prospect. "_A__new__lord__will__be__crowned.__I__shall__be__the__one__to__take__over.__I__have__enough__sway__over__our__clan__lords__that__I__can__make__them__choose__me._"

"Lord Sesshomaru, in this case, it is up for our clans to make a choice on the new Lord of the Southern Lands."

"This Sesshomaru has already made the choice for you." Sesshomaru stated. This statement alone sent all of the clan lords into a frenzied panic, with many pondering whom would be their new lord.

Watching the chaos ensue, the dog demon internally smirked at the panic of the demons. "_They__yearn__for__power,__however,__they__will__be__sadly__mistaken._"

Noting they had settled a bit, Sesshomaru coolly said "The new Lord of the Southern Lands is ..."

All ears strained to hear the name that would roll of the dog demon's lips. Many were hoping it would be themselves, while others dreaded the daunting task that would befall whomever was chosen to lead.

"... Iya Taisho."

An eerie silence engulfed the room with the name spoken by the dog demon. Each and every one of the demons were in stunned shock upon hearing the name of their new lord. A few felt their anger swell, while others couldn't help but feel powerless, and the last few had an inkling they were being mocked.

Laughter suddenly cut through the stale air. All eyes landed upon the neko clan lord. He held his sides as he laughed loudly and uncontrollably for nearly a whole minute. A few clan lords joined in with him and let loose deep laughter. Some others that were uncertain let out low chuckles, but kept it mostly to themselves.

"Lord Sesshomaru," Takeshi managed to get out between breaths to calm his breathing, "they lie when they say you have no sense of humor. That is the best joke I have heard in many years!"

Staring evenly at the neko lord, the dog demon said nothing. His eyes slid over to the sound of the sliding door opening to reveal his brother entering into the room. Eyeing him, he noted his brother wore a new top that was white and had black mixed in. The demon lord knew it was the top he had given him that had an image of his brother's true dog form embroidered into the back. Noticing his hair was not in it's usual ponytail, he inwardly chuckled at how similar his brother looked similar to himself.

Stepping in, Iya stared at the snickering neko demon for a moment before turning his attention to his brother. He moved forward towards his elder brother's side wordlessly as he observed the clan lords starting to realize he had entered the room. Their expressions all changed from one of amusement to anger in a flash.

In low, dangerous growl, Takeshi grit out "Half breed, this is a private meeting. You are to leave, unless you wish to be taught your place."

"The Lord of the South's place is at this meeting, Clan Lord Takeshi." Iya answered blandly.

"Your brother merely toys with you half breed. You are no lord." the neko retorted tightly.

Not even flinching at the harshness of the neko lord, the hanyou smoothly replied "I was chosen by the Lord of the West to be your new lord."

Grinding his teeth together and glaring hotly at the dog demon that stood in silence, the neko broke the tension and snarled out "We alone shall choose our lord! Besides, only one from the Southern Lands can rule them!"

"Incorrect." Sesshomaru spoke up. "The Western Lands conquered your lands, thus it is up to this Sesshomaru to decide whom shall rule these lands. An heir to the West is the perfect ruler."

"THIS IS OUTRAGEOUS!" Takeshi roared. Hands fisted tightly till the point his claws dug into his palms and drew blood, the neko lord angrily shouted "You mock us Lord Sesshomaru! We cannot accept a ruler whom is not only from our own lands, but further more is nothing but a mongrel whelp that should not exist!"

Staring into hazel eyes of the neko clan lord with his amber eyes, the demon lord started to respond but was cut off by his brother.

"Clan Lord Takeshi, I ask that you do not show such disrespect to our ally. Lord Sesshomaru is the Lord of the Western Lands. It is customary to show a lord respect, is it not?"

"YOU DO NOT COMMAND ME!" Takeshi spat.

"Perhaps I do not make myself clear." Iya stated in a stern tone. "I am the new Southern Lord of these lands. You will do as I command and know your place, clan lord."

Those words seemed to break the last restraint of the neko demon. He suddenly fell to his haunches and grabbed his sword up and darted straight for the hanyou. The sheath of his weapon was discarded instantly and blade flew up and was poised to strike down the enemy of it's master.

Iya evaded the whistling blade by simply flashing away. Again and again, he leapt backwards away from the wild swings of his foe. At times, he would duck under the sword, others he would just vanish in a flash.

"DRAW YOUR BLADE AND FIGHT ME HALF BREED!"

Coming to stop several yards away from the crazed neko demon, the dog hanyou smoothly replied "There is no need."

"DO NOT MOCK ME!" Takeshi roared while charging his foe.

Muddy brown eyes hardened at the oncoming neko demon. In little motion, he lifted his right hand up with his index and middle fingers held out with the remainders curled up. Flashing out from the tips of his two fingers was a light blue laser energy whip.

With little effort, the hanyou shot his whip forward and sliced straight through the right shoulder of the neko lord. Bone and all were severed and dropped to the ground, effectively ending the assault of the demon as he sat on his knees screaming in pain and held his left hand over the wound. Blood poured from the cut off limb and stained the stone floor crimson.

Dismissing his whip and moving back towards the group of stunned demons, Iya came to an abrupt stop and turned towards the wailing neko lord.

"You and your clan are hereby stripped of the rights to be on the council of clans. Guards, assist him in leaving the Southern Keep." the hanyou coldly stated.

A pair of Western Lands' guards that had been ever present in the doorway of the room advanced forward and helped the wailing demon to his feet. Gently, they carried him out of the room, leaving only the sound of his pained cries coming from the hallway.

"I will make this simple and short as possible." Iya said as he moved back to the side of his elder brother. All eyes shifted to him instantly. "Over three weeks ago, the former Lord of the Southern Lands, Aikamaru, was defeated in battle and thus ending his reign of tyranny."

Eyeing each demon in the room, the hanyou pushed onwards and said "I have now inherited his vacant throne. You may hate me, resent me, despise me, or any other such things, but let me be absolutely clear on one issue."

"You will respect me." he sternly stated. "I am the Lord of the Southern Lands, like it or not, but it is the truth and how things will be from hence forth."

"My first and foremost important goal is to rebuild these lands. There will be many changes that will need to take place for this to happen, and many I am sure all of you will not wish to cooperate with."

Pausing for a moment as he scanned the crowd of clan lords, he soon said "To fully restore these lands to proper order, I require your aid. I ask not that you like me, nor do I command it. The only thing I ask of is your respect."

"Today, I make my first command as Southern Lord. All of you will be asked to return to your respective clans for a three month furlough. In that time span, you will tell your respective clans what will happen now that the war is over. You will tell them that I am your new Southern Lord and that together, we will rebuild and surpass the former glory of these lands."

Taking another moment to let all he had said sink in, Iya slowly added "There will be something you must decide on while at your clans homelands. You must decide whether to return or not in three months time. For some, the choice will be easy, while others not."

"There are three options to what you decide. First, you may choose to return and serve under me when the three months are over. Your second choice is to select a new clan lord that will return and serve under me. Lastly, should you and your clan choose not to serve, then your clan shall have all of it's rights within the clan council stripped away."

"Make no mistake, there will be no exceptions to this rule. I have little patience in this matter and have no time to play politics with any of you. We must start reconstruction on these lands as soon as possible. Once I am formally instated as the Lord of the South at my coronation in three months, we will begin the work."

"That is all. You are dismissed."

That said, the dog hanyou turned on his heels and moved to the shoji door. Sliding it open, he left with his elder brother trailing after him.

The only sound heard in the hallway was that of the two brothers' boots striking the cold stone floors.

"Impressive. Such strong, decisive words and actions."

"Naturally you would be impressed." Iya muttered with irritation dripping from his voice. "You selected me for this job, so I figured it's only fair that I do it properly."

"Do not forget, it was you that accepted it, brother." Sesshomaru remarked as his lips twitched into a smirk.

Letting out a grunt, he mumbled in his mind "_How__could__I__ever__forget._"

000

000

"Sesshomaru, you wanted to see me?" Iya asked. He stood just inside a doorway of the room his elder brother had procured for his own office.

"Hn."

Taking the one word acknowledgement as an invitation to approach, the dog hanyou neared his brother that was sitting on a cushion. Before the dog demon was a low table filled with documents that he was signing with a calligraphy brush.

The dog demon silently placed the brush aside and stood up. He regarded his sibling for a few moments before turning away and facing the window that gave a clear view of the darkened night sky. The only sound in the room was the rustling sound his clothing made.

"Iya, this Sesshomaru assumes you understand these lands will need much work to make a complete restoration?"

Nodding his head mutely, the hanyou approached his brother's back a few feet. Stopping, he spoke up and said "Yes, I have. I have a few ideas that will assist in their rebuilding process, that is if you want them. You have a long process ahead of you to get these lands back to ..."

"This Sesshomaru shall not be restoring these lands."

"What?" the hanyou asked in confusion. Choosing his words carefully, he coolly said "I don't understand what you're saying. The Southern Lands are yours. It is for you to ..."

"No." the demon lord retorted in a declarative tone. "These lands will not belong to this Sesshomaru soon enough. They are to be returned to the new Southern Lord."

"A new lord?"

"Hn."

"So, that means you will be selecting one of the clan lords from the South?"

"No."

Brow furrowing, the hanyou asked "No? What do you mean no? A new lord must be either succeeded by their heir or selected to lead by the clan lords. Aikamaru had no heir, so that leaves the fifteen clan lords to choose from."

"They have no say in this matter. This Sesshomaru has already selected the new lord."

"Already?"

"Hn."

"Who is it? Or is that a secret privy only to you?" the black haired hanyou smartly asked.

Turning to face his brother once more, the dog demon's lips twitched slightly into a brief smile before he coolly said "You."

"Come again?"

"You are the new Southern Lord, Iya."

Stunned silence engulfed the hanyou's mind for several moments before he shook his head and let out a heavy sigh. "That's not funny."

He received no response, prompting him to look into his older brother's amber eyes. Muddy brown met amber for a few brief seconds before the dog hanyou turned away and took several steps to the nearby wall. Smashing his fist into the stone that made up the materials of the wall, he grunted out "No."

"No? You turn down this Sesshomaru's offer?"

"Sesshomaru, be reasonable." Iya ground out as he kept his back to his brother. Smashing his fist into the wall again, he added "I cannot be the Southern Lord."

"Why not?"

Snapping around to face his brother with an irate look in his features, the dog hanyou growled out "The clan lords would never allow such a thing to happen!"

"They have no say. This is this Sesshomaru's decision alone."

"And why is that?"

"The Western Lands possess the Southern Lands momentarily. They are but subjects to this Sesshomaru, thus they will not be able to object. The clan lords lost the right to select their own lord the moment they joined in with Aikamaru's folly war. This Sesshomaru now must make certain that something like that does not happen again."

"You're going to incite another war by making me Lord of the South!" Iya adamantly argued. "I don't want to see these lands fall into a civil war over something that has to do with me."

Eyeing his brother for just a brief moment, the dog demon replied "You will not allow it to happen, this Sesshomaru knows that much."

"Why won't you listen to reason! Making me lord will only make things unbearable for the people of these lands. They would never willingly follow after me. I have no doubt they'd lynch me before they would ever obey me."

"Iya."

Meeting his brother's gaze, the hanyou inwardly gasped when he saw nothing but honestly within his brother's eyes. They shone true and told him much more than words alone could.

Looking away, Iya shook his head and softly said "Sesshomaru, what you ask of me is impossible. I'm nothing more than a half demon. That is why they will never accept me."

"Tell this Sesshomaru, if not you then whom would you choose to lead?"

Racking his brain over the names of demons he met since he had woke up from his battle with the former Lord of the South, the hanyou ran through the list. None truly stuck out to him as a possible lord that could take care of the Southern Lands, lest a similar situation arise once more like the last war.

"There are none, is there, brother?"

Saying nothing, the dog hanyou walked over to the window that shown the night sky and placed his hand on the glass for a moment. He at last whispered "None."

"Then why refuse this Sesshomaru's offer?"

"You know why..."

Hearing a few footsteps approach him from behind, Iya heard his brother stop a few feet behind him. The next words he heard forced him to spin around and look at his brother in surprise.

"I believe in you."

Seeing his younger brother's surprise, the dog demon coolly said "You may think just because you are a half demon that you do not deserve this, but you are wrong. Father raised you as a true heir, gave you an education, and taught you all that you need to know about being a true demon lord. With that said, I can think of no one better than you to become the new Lord of the Southern Lands, Iya."

"Sesshomaru..." Iya whispered in astonishment. Becoming quiet for a minute, he finally got up the nerve to ask "Do you truly mean that?"

"I would never lie to you about something so important, brother. You will make a splendid Southern Lord. It is you, and you alone, that can heal these lands and help bring understanding to them. You will bridge the gap that these lands attempted to destroy between humans and demons, and it is you that will bring true peace to these lands. Bring the peace to these lands that I know not only yearns in your heart but in those around you. After all, you know better than anyone the plight that half demons suffer through, thus you should be able to make things better so that no others have to suffer for."

The words of his brother reflected within Iya's heart for several moments. Closing his eyes, he slowly processed through them and realized that all he had been told was true. "_...__Bring__the__peace__to__these__lands__that__I__know__not__only__yearns__in__your__heart__but__in__those__around__you._"

"_I've__always__desired__peace.__Since__I__was__a__child,__I__yearned__for__it__to__last__forever.__Peace__ended__for__me__at__such__a__young__age__when__I__harmed__Kaia.__I__found__some__as__I__grew__older__through__my__friends,__but__even__then__it__faded__away.__It__seemed__to__return__when__I__found__Inuyasha__and__Izayoi__all__those__years__ago,__and__again__when__Nariko__and__I__became__friends.__But__it__was__always__temporary..._"

"_Even__after__meeting__up__with__Ichigo,__I__still__felt__the__heavy__burden__in__my__heart.__Lilly__has__helped__remove__much__of__it,__yet__some__remains.__I__only__want__those__around__me__to__be__able__to__live__in__peace__and__to__know__the__feeling__of__it.__To__know__there__is__nothing__to__worry__about__due__that__they__are__protected__and__will__not__suffer__from__anyone.__To__be__able__to__protect__those__important__to__you.__That__peace__is__what__I've__strived__for.__Now__it__is__within__my__grasp__and__here__I__am__hesitating.__I__can__bring__the__Southern__Lands__a__peace__that__they__have__never__had.__But__can__I__do__that?_"

Inwardly, a mental image of his smiling mate nodded her head at him. She stared at him with love and devotion pouring out in her eyes and seemingly telling him that she believed in him.

Eyes opening gradually to reveal determined muddy brown eyes, Iya smiled at his brother for a moment before saying "I accept, Sesshomaru."

000

000

"_That__was__a__few__days__ago.__I'll__never__forget__his__words._"

"Sesshomaru, tell me, do you think any will return once their time is up?"

Nothing but the sounds of two demon lords' boots clicking on the floor could be heard for several long moments. At long last, the dog demon broke the silence.

"This Sesshomaru knows several will return. They will not give up their power so easily. However, this Sesshomaru wonders if you regret getting rid of the neko clan lord."

Slightly grinning at his brother's statement, Iya shook his head, saying "I don't. The nekos are far too proud to serve under me. Takeshi would have found a way to make things very difficult for the restoration of the Southern Lands."

Eyes sliding over to his brother, the dog demon replied "The nekos are the largest clan."

"I know that." the hanyou irritably remarked. "I wish I could have kept them involved, but everything within me tells me that they would not willingly accept my rule."

Waving off his brother, he added in a light tone "Besides, their numbers were severely depleted during the war. I highly doubt they could do much for several years, which gives the remaining loyal clans time to come up with something. For now, the nekos are too focused on rebuilding their numbers and homes."

A comfortable silence engulfed the pair for nearly a minute before Iya asked "When do you plan on leaving for the West?"

"Two weeks. This Sesshomaru must set the Western Lands back in order."

Nodding his head, the dog hanyou became solemn only to be woken from that by his brother asking "You intend on retrieving your mate soon, do you not?"

Sighing heavily and looking down at the floor, the hanyou contemplated his words for several moments before he replied "I do, however, it's obvious I cannot do it myself. I have an idea on how to do it though. And there is the issue of my belongings back at the Western Stronghold. I need to fetch them at some point and time."

"They will be sent to you."

"Oh, you're going to pack them yourself?" the hanyou cheekily asked.

Giving his brother a glare, the dog demon smartly retorted "Jaken will."

000

000

"Why is this so difficult!" Orihime whined.

The bobcat mage was sitting cross legged on a stump and had an abnormal deep scowl etched into her features. In her lap sat her zanpakutō with her hands wrapped tightly around the pommel.

Next to the bobcat demoness sat Ichigo in a similar pose with his own zanpakutō. Instead of a scowl on his face, he seemed at peace for once and had his eyes closed. Letting out a small sigh, his eyes fluttered open to look over at his mate's annoyed features. Inwardly, he couldn't help but find her looking cute with his trademark scowl on her face.

"Orihime, it'll take time. Materializing your spirit isn't easy. Learning to bring out Zangetsu took a lot of time and effort, but in the end, it did work out and I was able to advance my Bankai training."

Standing up and moving over to beside his mate, the quarter bobcat added "Give it time. I know you want to get stronger and learn Bankai, but it's not as simple as it sounds. Normally it takes fifty years or so to learn it, plus a few more just to be able to use it within battle."

"But you learned it so quickly." the demoness retorted in a sour tone.

Rubbing the back of his head and letting out a sigh, the quarter demon said "I am probably the exception to the rule. I don't even know how I learned it so quickly either."

"Your burning desire to stop Kenshin for what he did to Rukia is what drove it."

Turning to find the owner of the voice belonged to his long time partner, Ichigo scowled at the dog hanyou and mouthed "Not helping."

"Sorry to interrupt you two." Iya apologized. Smiling at the pair, he added "I'm surprised you are trying to attain Bankai already, Orihime. I thought you had just received your zanpakutō only eight or nine years ago."

"I did but I want to get stronger. I've already pretty well mastered Shikai so I'm ready to move on to attaining my Bankai." the mage replied with a touch of kindness in her voice.

"It's important to you to be able to protect those around you, isn't it?" the dog hanyou softly questioned.

Earning himself a glare from the quarter demon, the hanyou inwardly chuckled at his partner's expense. He then noted that the orange haired young man appeared to be back to his usual self.

Curious, the hanyou asked "Experiencing any after effects of using your transformation?"

"Not really. My power feels the same. I haven't had much time to really try it out fully to make sure, but from what I can tell everything is alright." the quarter demon answered. "My hollow of course is bitching about the fact he lost all his powers due to the transformation I undertook but he'll get over it."

"What about Zangetsu?"

Pondering on his friend's question for a few moments, Ichigo slowly said "He's been rather quiet since my powers returned to me. I think he's feeling guilty for teaching me the Final Getsuga Tenshō. He did what he had to do to ensure I would be strong enough to take on any and all enemies, so I don't blame him for any of the mess that came afterwards. If it wasn't for him, I'd have died in that battle against Sephiroth."

"I'm just glad you're alright." Orihime commented warmly as she scooted closer to him and suddenly wrapped her arms around the quarter demon's right arm and rubbed against his shoulder with her face.

"As am I." the hanyou added in. "You had me worried for a moment when I sensed your powers rise up to the point that I could no longer feel them."

A hushed silence fell over the three for a moment until Iya broke it. "I came to talk to you two about something important."

"Oh, what now?" Ichigo asked in an annoyed tone.

Receiving no answer, the quarter demon peeled his mate off of his arm and stood up. He moved to within five feet of his partner and folded his arms over his chest and scowled at the silent hanyou. He immediately sensed his mate move back to his side.

"I'm guessing you haven't heard the news yet, have you?" the hanyou asked.

Watching the two look at one another for a moment and before shrugging to each other was all the dog hanyou needed to confirm his suspicion. "I was made the new Southern Lord."

Both bobcats mutely nodded for a moment, only to look at him like he had grown a second head all of a sudden.

"Wait, you're the new Southern Lord!" Ichigo questioned in shock.

Nodding with a smile on his face, Iya replied "Yeah, I am."

"But how? I thought only the Southern Lands' clan lords could only choose their own lord for these lands..." Orihime stated with uncertainty ringing in her voice.

Chuckling at her confusion, the hanyou remarked "Normally you'd be right. However, due that it was the Western Lands that conquered the Southern Lands, Sesshomaru set things up so that he had choice of the new lord. He spoke to me about it and after a bit of reasoning, got me to accept my new role."

"So you willingly took the job?" the quarter demon questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah..." Iya grumbled. "I really didn't want to, but he had a point. Only I can lead these lands and help them try and become a set of lands that are truly at peace once more."

Both bobcats seemed to simply nod as they digested the dog hanyou's words. Noting that, he smiled slightly and rubbed the back of his head.

"There is more..."

"Oh? What, did big bad brother make you Lord of the Western Lands while he was at it?" the quarter demon teased.

"Not quite that." Iya commented in a clipped tone. "Sesshomaru is very adamant that I choose at least one or more bodyguards for protecting not only myself, but Lilly too."

Inhaling deeply for a moment, he added "I would like to ask both of you to be our bodyguards."

"What?" the quarter demon asked in surprise. Rubbing the back of his head, he said "The two of you are pretty strong, so I don't quite get it. Neither of you should need a bodyguard at all. Hell, a person would be stupid to attack either of you for that matter."

Nodding his head, the hanyou remarked "That's true, however, it's not up for debate thanks to my brother... He won't take no for an answer, and when he says something like this, he can make it very unbearable if you don't comply."

"In other words, if you don't do as he asks he'll make life a living hell?" Ichigo smartly commented.

"Indeed." the hanyou remarked. Shifting nervously for a moment, he slowly asked "I guess the question is, would you two do the job?"

"Us?" the quarter bobcat quipped in surprise. "I thought you were joking."

Shaking his head and slightly sighing, the dog hanyou ran his clawed fingers through his hair as he searched for the words that he had prepared for this occasion. "No, I'm not. I can't think of anyone else I would rather have our backs. It's not out of ease or availability, but the fact that I trust both of you with our lives and wellbeing."

"And before you ask, this isn't a full-time, around the clock job. It's mostly for public events and trips out of the Southern Keep. While at the keep, you won't need to stick with us all the time, unless you want to. That's your call. Aside from that, you would be well paid and taken care of for however long I am Lord of the Southern Lands."

Brow furrowing at the declaration of the hanyou, Orihime softly asked "I'm assuming you want me to stick with Lilly?"

Smiling at the perception of her friend and responding in a calm tone, Iya replied "Yeah. Lilly most likely won't need any protection, however, I'd rather not chance things either with all the unknowns here in the Southern Lands."

"Besides that, I know Lilly could use a partner to help her train with her Kidō. You're quite experienced with it from what I've heard. The two of you worked together in preparation for these final battles, so you know one another's styles and just how strong each other are. Those things alone helped in my decision on asking you to protect her as a bodyguard."

Turning to his partner, the hanyou added "And you Ichigo, you know me rather well. You know when I'm being careless and when I should be more guarded. Aside from that, you'd make one hell of a sparring partner for me. I'll need to keep up my strength if I hope to have any chance of ruling these lands for very long."

The two bobcats remained silent for a few moments, each seemingly absorbing the words of their friend. After about a minute, Ichigo spoke up, saying "I don't know about this."

"What else do you have to do? And I'm being serious." Iya questioned.

"I still need to complete my training to master my mask."

Rolling his eyes at the quarter demon, the hanyou remarked "From what I've heard and seen, you seem to have done just that already. True, your mask only lasts thirty minutes, but that should be more than enough time, right?"

Throwing a sour look at the hanyou, the orange haired man retorted "No. I need to get stronger and be able to hold my mask form longer."

"Ichigo, you'll get there if you stay and train with me. To increase that time, you need to just fight with someone, right? Then why not stay and spar with me? Over time, your strength will increase to the point you'll have your mask on as long as you like probably." the hanyou argued.

"It's just..."

Feeling a hand land on his shoulder, the quarter demon noted it belonged to his friend. A look of confidence and determination was flashing over the hanyou's face, as if he was saying he believed in the quarter demon.

Finding himself unable to come up with any other excuses, a defeated Ichigo muttered "Alright, you got me, I have nothing holding me back really."

"As I thought." Iya smugly stated. Glancing over at the bobcat demoness, he asked "What about you, Orihime?"

"Well..." the mage began, "I actually want to finish my Kidō training. I'm nearly done, but there is still some stuff for me to learn from my master. Hachigen promised to complete it, so until I am done with it, I'm not sure I'd really be able to be Lilly's bodyguard."

"Hmm..." the hanyou murmured as he placed his hand in his chin. A few moments went by before he asked "Would it be possible to have him stay here? I know he is one of the group that Neliel sent out to help us and he's actually here."

Shrugging, the bobcat replied "I'm not sure. He has a lot of responsibilities..."

"We could ask. And if not, we could work something out I'm sure. His master, Tessai Tsukabishi, may come help train you as a favor. He owes Sesshomaru one at the very least." Iya slyly commented.

"Perhaps. If we could work something out, I'd be more than willing to stay." Orihime truthfully answered the hanyou.

"Good." the hanyou shortly remarked. "Aside from being Lilly's bodyguard, I have no doubts that your talents would be more than welcomed here. You are probably the finest healer that is available within these lands."

Blushing a bit at the comment, the mage started to reply but was cut off by her mate.

"Are you sure this will be alright? I mean, I'm a quarter demon and you're asking me to be your bodyguard in a set of lands that is controlled by demons."

"Correction, a half demon controls these lands now." Iya quipped with a grin.

"Whatever. I guess if you don't care, then I'll go with it." Ichigo grunted.

"Good." the hanyou said as he clapped his hands. "In that case, I have a favor to ask you two."

000

000

"Not even a day into the job and that bastard already has us doing his whims." Ichigo grumbled.

Rolling her eyes at her mate, Orihime retorted "He can't very well leave these lands to go get Lilly, now can he."

"No, but to send us on an errand that is so easy someone else could do it is overkill."

"He's just being cautious. Not to mention he knows you and I won't blab what is going on in the Southern Lands to her until he talks with her." the demoness admonished.

"Whatever." the quarter demon grunted.

Continuing to run along through the forest that stretched across the Southern Lands, the pair of bobcats fell into a comfortable silence. The sun was still climbing into the sky from its morning position, leaving them plenty of daylight to travel by.

Finding someone blocking their path up ahead, the pair slowed to a walk and soon to a complete stop. Staring at him, they saw that the person was a neko demon with a deep scowl etched into his features.

The demon had wild red hair that spiked out much like the quarter demon's own orange hair, pointed ears, a skin tone between pale and tanned, and a decently built body. His eyes were a gray color and slit. The clothing he wore was not that of nobility, but appeared to be that of a soldier. His top was black with a white undershirt and had ragged sleeves. It had a mixture of cuts in it where he had visibly been in battle previously. Similar cuts were within his pants and some dried blood rested in the seams of the cuts, along with several rough edges on the tips of the pants. On his feet were tabi socks and thin sandals.

Resting in his hands was a katana that had a green braided hilt, a golden colored rectangular guard that had several chips in it, and a scratched up blade. The weapon seemed to have experienced many battles and survived somehow.

"Harlot, how dare you travel with that human trash?" the man gruffly asked.

Stepping forward and placing himself between the neko and his mate protectively, Ichigo coolly said "I don't know who you are and I don't care. If you insult my mate ever again, I won't hesitate to drop you like a bad habit."

"Shut up trash. A lowly piece of garbage like you has no right to talk to me like that."

"Listen, I don't give a damn who you are. You're in my way. Step aside." the quarter demon impatiently stated.

The demon sharply growled out "I will take great pleasure in gutting you. Once I am done with you, that whore is next."

The neko demon never had a chance to say anything else as Ichigo was suddenly upon him. The quarter demon drew his weapon so fast that the red haired neko didn't even see the white cloth covering the blade come off of the weapon. He barely even had time to parry the quarter demon's cleaver blade and felt himself being pushed backwards by the intensity of his foe.

"I gave you the courtesy of not ending this in an instant. Now **apologize** to Orihime!" the quarter demon demanded, adding emphasis on apologize by grinding his blade even harder into his opponent's.

Hearing his weapon creaking from the strain, the neko demon felt sweat drops sliding down the sides of his face as he struggled to hold back the massive weapon of his adversary.

"I will not apologize to a whore. She has given in and obviously rutted with human trash, thus she should ..."

A fist in the demon's face effectively silenced him and sent him flipping backwards. He scrambled to his feet and slid backwards as he cradled his face. Removing his hand, he found blood covering it that was leaking from his forehead and down his face.

"Bastard, you should be lucky I held back. I'll beat the hell out of you if you don't apologize."

Scoffing at the words, the demon muttered "This is what happens when trash takes over these lands. I will rectify it. Once I dispatch the two of you, I will send that half breed that dares to call himself lord off to Hell to join you."

"The Southern Lord won't be going anywhere anytime soon." Ichigo smoothly stated. "Last chance to give up and apologize to my mate. I'll let your threat slide against the Southern Lord, but not my mate."

"You expect me to apologize to a whore? Trash like you should know better than to ..."

Interrupting, the quarter demon muttered "Didn't think you would, you bastard. Release your zanpakutō so we can finish this."

Enraged by the demeanor of the orange haired man, the demon snarled out "I will kill you! No piece of garbage tells me what to do!"

"Do it or I'll end this now. I prefer to do so when my opponent is capable of defending him or herself, so hurry up."

Tightening his grip for a moment on the hilt of his weapon, the demon calmed himself and let out a light chuckle. "Fine, I'll give you a glimpse of my true power. Skewer Kōka-kotsu!"

Coating itself in a golden glow, the katana within the neko's hand began its transformation. The blade shortened to the length of three feet with it take more of the form of a club. At the same time, the blade's edge extended out so that it was now a foot wide and looked like a massive paddle. Holes formed near the end of the weapon and several rigid spines grow up on the back side of the weapon. The hilt's wrap changed into a tattered white wrap that had two ends that hung loosely from the end of the pummel.

"This is the end for you, trash. Farewell!" the neko stated as he charged forward with all the speed he could muster. He extended his body forward and pushed the weapon straight ahead with the intent to bore straight through the quarter demon.

Unaffected by the incoming attacker's weapon, Ichigo emotionlessly drew Zangetsu up and turned the broad side towards the attacking blade. Holding the weapon's hilt by his left hand, he braced it with his right arm in a vertical position for support on the backside of the sword.

A loud clang rang throughout the forest when the two weapons collided. Sparks rained down unto the ground and the unmistakable sound of steel grinding filled the air of the area.

"Impossible... Kōka-kotsu should have cut through your pathetic weapon..." a speechless neko murmured lowly. His eyes were wide with shock while his body trembled as he continued to grind his weapon up against the cleaver blade of the quarter demon.

A rough shove sent the red haired neko skidding backwards. He tried to make himself stop but found it quite difficult. At last doing so, he noted that the quarter demon was missing.

"Getsuga ..."

The demon immediately turned his attention skywards to find the quarter demon with his zanpakutō raised up over his head and the pommel double gripped. He was facing downwards towards the neko, giving him the look of floating in mid-air.

"... Tenshō!"

With a thunderous downward swing of his sword, Ichigo shot his trademark light blue crescent moon shaped attack hurtling towards the demon. The blinding light blue light reflected in his eyes as the attack neared him and seemed perfectly aimed to kill him. It struck the ground with unheralded ferocity and left a small explosion in its wake.

Dust clearing, it soon became visible the attack had landed only a few inches in front of the neko demon and cut a deep groove into the land. The neko's breath was bated as he realized he lived.

"I didn't kill you for a reason." a voice declared not far away from the neko. Turning, he saw the quarter demon standing several yards away with his cleaver blade resting on his right shoulder and back to him. "There was no way I would openly murder you in front of my mate. She is appalled at killing those that do not need it. True, you are guilty of threatening the Southern Lord and what you said to my mate, however, I showed mercy."

Turning to face the demon with firm eyes, Ichigo added "But if I ever see your face again, don't think I'll go so easy on you. So long as I'm the Southern Lord's bodyguard, you'll never reach him. If you show your face in his courts, I won't hesitate to cut you down."

Returning his weapon to his back that prompted the white wrapped pommel to reattach the cloth around his weapon, he added "Now go home."

**Meanings for certain words:**

_**Kōka-kotsu = Hardened Bone**_

**Thanks everyone for reading the chapter. Now, if you could do me a kind favor and review to let me know what you think of the chapter, I'd appreciate it. Till next time!**


	30. Chapter 30: Dealing

**Hey everyone! First off, I'm terribly sorry for taking so long to get this chapter out to you all. I'm two weeks behind since I was supposed to post and I feel horrible about it. I kept getting more and more stuff to do and less and less will to write. I had a week off to try and catch up on my writing, however, that was spent attempting to clean and catch up on many other things instead at home instead. So for the last two weeks, I've been desperately trying to get the chapter done, though there is much going on. Work is plenty busy with us moving forward at full speed on our Air Force contract. Then home life is kind of tight too, plus it don't help that I got Batman Arkham City for Christmas, lol. Plus my mate is going back to school for a semester in preparation for earning her "learners" license to survey. All and all, I just have to say it's been one busy time of the year.**

**Writing wise, things are crawling along. I have ideas, it's just putting them to paper that is the problem. Bear with me, please. I'll try and keep on schedule.**

**Thanks to both Katana and alex 988.**

**alex 988: Thanks for the comments. I plan on doing Eternal War sometime this spring, hopefully, if not before. It all depends on some other things really. Thanks once more.**

**Well, I think that does it. Thanks once again to both reviewers. And now, I take my leave. Till next time, enjoy!**

**Chapter 30**

"Thank you for meeting with me, Lady Neliel."

Sitting down and looking across the low table at the Lord of the Northern Lands, the centaur demoness nodded her head in reply, saying "Thank you for having me, Lord Kouga."

"I apologize for the suddenness of this meeting, but I really wanted to speak with you about something that needs addressed." the wolf demon stated. Choosing his words carefully, he continued on and said "With the defeat and death of former Lord Sasuke, the Eastern Lands are without a lord now. I'm sure you're well aware of that fact already."

Receiving a nod of understanding from the demoness, the demon lord pressed on and said "I have a dilemma due to this. You see, before we left the Western Lands, Lord Sesshomaru and I met to discuss what would become of the Eastern and Southern Lands. We both agreed that their lords needed replaced by someone else. It was then agreed upon that we would each choose a new lord for each land, with my choice being in the Eastern Lands and Lord Sesshomaru's to rule the Southern Lands."

Looking down at his clawed hands that were clenched, he willed himself to calm down and slowly said "Lady Neliel, I've asked you here to request you become the new Eastern Lord."

A look of surprise crossed the demoness' face for a moment before her features returned to their normal state. Sadly sighing, she shook her head and gave a weak smile.

"I'm honored you would choose me, Lord Kouga, truly, I am. However, I cannot accept the title of Lord of the Eastern Lands." Neliel kindly said. "There is much I still have to do in training those that have inner hollows. As well, the people of my village depend on me for protection and I cannot abandon them. Lastly, it is not what my master would have wanted. To play such a large role in how a set of lands are ruled is no doubt in violation of what he taught me."

"I am sorry, Lord Kouga." she sympathetically added.

Visibly disappointed, Kouga let out a heavy sigh. Raising his one hand up to cover his brow and rub it gently, he lowered it to reveal a soft smile and shook his head. "It's alright, Lady Neliel. I wasn't sure if you'd accept or not. Thank you for at least hearing me out."

Bowing her head, the demoness rose, saying "In a few more days, I will be leaving to return to the Northern Lands. I hope this does not hurt our relationship?"

"No, it changes nothing. You are always welcome in the Northern Lands. I appreciate getting to see you. Hopefully from now on, it will be under better terms." the wolf demon remarked.

000

000

"It's so nice to just relax like this." Kagome commented softly as she slid her honey colored eyes shut. Her dog ears twitched slightly as she felt herself slowly drifting towards dreamland.

The weather was perfect for an afternoon nap, with the skies clear as could be for miles around and a gentle breeze blowing.

Nearby the miko hanyou was her sister-in-law that was sprawled out on a rock, effectively sunning herself. "I can't remember the last time we've gotten to take it easy."

"Feh."

Irritated by the sound of her brother-in-law a few yards away, Lilly sat up and grumbled "Don't you ever take a break to relax? It's not like I'm going to disappear if you close your eyes and enjoy yourself."

"I'm not leaving you any opportunities to run off." Inuyasha grunted as he jammed his hands into his sleeves.

"Kagome, can you make him back off and give me some room? He's done nothing but follow after me since I've woken up from my battle." the neko whined.

Letting out a sigh and rolling over onto her belly to look up at her mate and the neko, the miko hanyou replied "If you find a way, let me know. Inuyasha was my shadow the whole time I was carrying our children and never let me out of his sight, even when I had to bathe."

"You were careless, that's why!" the dog hanyou barked.

"And you are overbearing." his mate retorted strongly. "Inuyasha, I know you mean well, but Lilly wasn't born yesterday. She knows how to take care of herself."

Looking away, the hanyou gruffly remarked "That may be, but you haven't seen the looks that some of those bastards at the castle throw at her."

"What looks?" Lilly questioned in a coy tone. "_This should be fun to hear._"

A slight blush started covering Inuyasha's face as he tried to form words he wanted to say back to his sister-in-law.

"They were undressing you with their eyes..." he whispered.

"I can't quite hear you there. I have good hearing, but not that good. Speak up." the neko replied in an antagonizing tone.

Glaring at his brother's mate, the dog hanyou had every intention of roaring back an answer, however a hardened glare from his own mate prompted him to not. Face turning the color of his own clothes, he growled lowly "They were undressing you with their eyes..."

"Still can't quite hear you. Try saying it in a normal tone." Lilly retorted. Her eyes visibly told the tale of just how much she was enjoying the experience of torturing her brother-in-law. "_Not like he doesn't deserve it after following after me for the last few weeks._"

Suppressed laughter at last erupted into the air from Kagome. She rolled back over onto her back and felt unable to look at her mate.

Standing unexpectedly, Inuyasha stomped away from the pair until he was only twenty yards away. The last thing he expected was to look over and find Lilly moving towards him with a look of mischief sparkling in her emerald eyes.

Fortunately for the dog hanyou, a whirlwind suddenly appeared. Appearing out of it was the Lord of the North, Kouga, wearing his traditional fur attire. Finding the woman he once chased after and longed for laying on her back laughing hard, he frowned. He then noticed his former rival in love of said hanyou glaring at him. At the same time, he saw the neko hanyou nearing said rival.

"Hey Kagome, Lilly, and..." he began, only to feel himself force out the last name of the group of three. "... Inuyasha."

"What do you want flea bag?" the belligerent dog hanyou growled. "I don't have time to play with you today wolf, so say what you got to say."

It took every ounce of Kouga's being not to retort to the insult. Calming himself, he replied "I just came to talk to you for a moment. I have something I wanted to speak to you about."

"Then speak."

"Well, it's kind of important, and I'd prefer to do it alone ..."

"Don't care." Inuyasha barked back. "Just spill it!"

"Inuyasha, don't be so rude." Kagome scolded. Her laughter had at last subsided and she was now approaching the wolf demon with a stern look on her face that dared her mate to challenge her warning.

Not wanting to taste dirt, especially in front of his so called rival, Inuyasha inwardly sighed before grudgingly saying "Listen Kouga, whatever it is, just talk to me about it here. I can't really per say meet in private."

"He still won't leave your side, eh Lilly?" the wolf demon jabbed.

Nodding her head with a depressed sigh escaping her mouth, Lilly answered "He won't... Damn it, I can protect myself for a while, so go talk with Kouga."

"Not happening. The moment I turn my back you'll be in trouble." the dog hanyou grumbled as he folded his arms over his chest and turned his head away.

Rolling her eyes and knowing she wouldn't win the argument, the neko muttered "Whatever."

Sweat dropping at the scene, the wolf demon cleared his throat and said "Inuyasha, it is kind of important that I talk to you alone. Seriously, we need to ..."

"I get it, you want to talk. Now talk already!" the silver haired hanyou all but screamed.

The wolf demon looked to the two women for help, but neither seemed to wish to pester the stubborn dog hanyou. Sighing and running a hand through his ponytail for a moment, Kouga grumbled "Damn it fl..."

Biting his lip to keep from retorting with his choice name he had for his rival, he lowly growled and grit out "If we could just go out of ear shout of them, would you be willing to do that?"

"What the hell is up with you and talking alone?" the hanyou bit out. Noting the intense look within the wolf demon's aqua colored eyes, the dog hanyou let out a heavy grunt before muttering "Fine. But make it quick!"

The pair walked off a short distance, giving the two women a chance to be alone for the first time in quite some time.

"I'm shocked he accepted that." Lilly commented.

Agreeing with a nod, Kagome added "It must be really important for Kouga to be pressuring him into talking with him about whatever it is."

Glancing up at the pair of men talking, the women wondered what was so important.

With the men, the pair at last came to rest on a slight knoll. A breeze blew by, sending the red kimono top of the dog hanyou floating away from his body, along with his silver hair. Turning his amber eyes towards the wolf demon, the hanyou crossed his arms and glared at his so called formal rival.

"Talk wolf. I don't have all day."

Fighting the urge to roll his eyes, Kouga took a deep breath before saying "As you know, the Eastern Lands no longer has a lord to oversee that which happens within it."

"As if I needed you to remind me. With that bastard hawk dead, this place is under your jurisdiction, so what's your point?"

Rubbing the back of his head awkwardly, the wolf remarked "Well, here is the thing, I'm not keeping command of the Eastern Lands, much like how Sesshomaru isn't taking over the Southern Lands."

"Is that so? Too much work for you scrawny wolf?"

"Damn it, you are so damn irritable!" Kouga snarled. Clenching his fists tightly, he grit out "I'm trying to be respectful but I should have remembered you don't give two shits about it."

"That's more like the Kouga I know." Inuyasha smugly commented. "Now that you're acting like yourself, what do you want?"

Flabbergasted at the actions of the dog hanyou, the Northern Lord grumbled "You are so damn annoying."

Feeling a bit more relaxed since the air had seemingly cleared, he sighed and said "Inuyasha, with Sasuke being dead, a new Eastern Lord needs appointed."

"Then get the clan lords of these lands to appoint one. Even I know that much."

"They won't get to." the wolf solemnly remarked.

Raising an eyebrow, the silver haired hanyou was about to reply but was cut off by the wolf demon.

"It's my decision to make."

Taken back by the statement just made, Inuyasha found himself once again put into shock by the next words spoken to him.

"Inuyasha, I want you to become the new Eastern Lord."

A few moments passed as nothing but the gentle breeze blowing filled the air. Without warning, the hanyou spoke in a completely irate voice.

"ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME! HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND!"

The outcry had reached the two women, causing them to rush to the pair of men. Reaching them, they found a heavily breathing hanyou and wolf demon with his hands clasped over his ears.

Confused, Kagome placed a calming hand on her mate's shoulder and asked "What's wrong?"

"This jackoff wants me to be the Lord of the East." Inuyasha all but snarled. Reaching out and grabbing the wolf demon by the neck and hosting him up into the air, he growled out "That bastard Sesshomaru put you up to this, didn't he! Just want to have a laugh at my expense yet again, don't you two!"

"Inuyasha, that's enough!" Lilly commanded in a harsh tone. Reaching out, she broke the iron grip of her brother-in-law, allowing the wolf to get free.

Rubbing his neck and gulping down as much air as possible, the Northern Lord reared back his right hand and smashed his fist into the face of the silver haired hanyou. The blow sent the dog hanyou flying to the ground and skidding along.

"You bastard, that didn't tickle you know!" Kouga rasped out.

Picking himself up quickly and ready to fight, Inuyasha rushed the wolf demon only to have his mate's voice stop him in his tracks.

"Sit boy!"

Yelping in surprise when he was jerked to the ground by the prayer beads, he dug a foot deep trench with little preparation to prepare for it.

"No fighting with Kouga, got it!" Kagome hissed as she stood in front of her mate with her hands on her hips and honey colored eyes boring at her mate's back.

Several long moments passed until a disgruntled affirmative grunt sounded off from the dirt bound hanyou. Ever so slowly, he pulled himself from the ground back onto his hands and knees. Coughing slightly, he spat out the earth that had managed to invade his mouth. The silver haired hanyou gave his mate a smoldering glare, only to be met with a fierce glare of her own, making him lower his eyes a bit.

Back on his feet and throwing angry look at the wolf demon, Inuyasha grumbled "I don't know what the hell you two are thinking trying to coerce me into believing you want me to be a lord, but stop with this sick joke! I won't be made light of."

Biting back the urge to yell in reply to the hanyou, Kouga took a deep breath before replying in a calm tone "It's no joke. I'm dead serious about this. I want you to be the new Lord of the Eastern Lands."

Floored and in utter surprise from the statement, the male hanyou turned away and clenched his hands into tight fists. The breeze sent his hair and clothing shifting from side to side for a moment as he kept his back to the wolf demon. At last returning to face his supposed rival, he revealed calmer amber eyes.

"Kouga, no offense but I don't want the job. I won't lie to you that I don't know the first thing about being a leader for a such a vast set of land. Aside from that, I have responsibilities elsewhere."

Glancing over at Kagome for a moment with a bit of softness in his eye, he returned his vision to the Northern Lord and added "I have obligations to Edo. Kagome is their miko and I protect the village. We want to raise our family there rather than in some dingy castle."

Waving off the wolf, he said "It's tempting Kouga but no thanks."

"Will you not reconsider?" Kouga pressed. Turning to the miko hanyou for help, he asked "Is this something you don't want, Kagome?"

Shaking her head gently and softly smiling, Kagome replied "Sorry Kouga, but this is Inuyasha's decision to make. He doesn't take his responsibilities lightly. I won't sway him."

Looking to neko to see if she would help, the wolf saw her raise her fold her arms over her chest and look away. "Don't look to me for help. I can't get him to leave me alone for a few minutes, let alone convince him to become the Lord of the Eastern Lands."

Snorting, Lilly added "And before you even think about it, don't bother to ask if Iya is interested. He would never want to do something like that."

Sweat dropping a bit, Kouga coughed slightly and rubbed the back of his head. "Well, that's just great. You were my last hope. Now what do I do?"

"I was your last pick?" Inuyasha questioned. Sneering, he commented "Must be hitting the bottom of the barrel if you bothered to ask me that question."

"I wasn't!" the wolf demon was quick to reply. Calming down, he muttered "You are an heir to the Western Lands, so legitimately you had the right to become a lord. I've already asked a few others I had picked out and none of them wanted the position either."

Thinking for a moment to herself, the neko suddenly had the image of her step son come to mind and softly asked "What about Yukio?"

Shaking his head in a no fashion, the demon retorted "He wanted nothing to do with ruling these lands. Yukio told me he had to deal with Amestris' possible civil war over what Chikako did."

"Well that stinks." a deflated Lilly muttered. "You have no one else on your list of possible candidates?"

"No." Kouga dejectedly mumbled. Taking a few steps away from the group, he grunted "I thought Inuyasha may do it, but I should have guessed again."

"I'm not here to make your life easier, flea bag."

Growling at the male hanyou, the wolf demon turned away to stalk off but was stopped by a sudden clawed hand on his shoulder. Spinning around to find the owner belonged to his former rival, he frowned for a moment only to notice something was obviously on the hanyou's mind.

"I think I know someone to do the job."

"Oh, this should be classic. Who you going to suggest? Shippou, that old lady that runs Edo, or maybe, just maybe, the monk and slayer?" Kouga sarcastically inquired.

"Feh, just be glad I know someone, flea bag." Inuyasha flippantly stated. Finding that the wolf demon was somewhat still waiting, he sighed inwardly and said "Cloud Strife."

Raising an eyebrow at the statement, the wolf asked "The former lord's bodyguard? Why him?"

Shrugging, the hanyou remarked "He just seemed like someone that could actually lead these lands to a better future than any of the other jokers available within these lands. I just find he would be capable of such a feat. We spoke and he believes humans, hanyous, and demons need to work together in order to accomplish goals."

"So he would promote allowing humans and demons being together, as well as hanyous." the demon lord commented as he pondered on the suggestion. Giving his trademark smirk, he coolly said "I'll talk with him."

"That's all I ask, wolf."

"You're sometimes useful, dog turd."

Growling, the dog hanyou started to fire back a retort but caught the glare coming from his mate, making him decide to retract his said statement he had in mind. Stuffing his arms within his sleeves simply, he muttered "Feh."

"Kouga, do try to be nice." Kagome admonished after seeing her mate's behavior.

"Right, I will try." the wolf wryly replied. Deciding he should go, he added "I must go find Cloud immediately. Farewell, for now."

"Could you take me with you!" Lilly pleaded with emerald eyes sparkling.

"HELL NO YOU'RE NOT GOING!" Inuyasha roared.

000

000

"Lord Sesshomaru!"

Hearing a voice that grated his nerves tremendously from behind, the Lord of the Western Lands refused to turn back to see the person trailing him. He had just left the Southern Keep to go for a simple walk only to find he had a tag along following in his footsteps.

"Leave." he coldly declared.

Rushing in front of the dog demon and falling onto all fours in a bow that kept her face only inches from the ground, Botan weakly said "Please, my lord, I beseech you to give me an audience for a request."

"No." the dog demon stated as he walked past her form.

The wind demoness reached out and grabbed hold of the hem of the dog demon's sleeve as he passed and whimpered "Please my lord."

"This Sesshomaru has no interest in hearing your request. Remove your hands from my person or they shall be removed from your wrists."

Botan immediately released her hold but followed after the demon lord. Tears poured from her eyes as she cried out "Lord Sesshomaru, please hear ..."

A green energy whip whizzed by her face and left a minor scratch on it with blood dripping from it and mixing with her salty tears. Her pink eyes widened in fear when she saw the whip retract to it's owner who had not even bothered to turn to face her and only had his arm extended backwards towards her with his clawed hand pointed.

"Consider yourself fortunate this Sesshomaru showed mercy. Now leave."

Regaining some composure, the demoness wailed out "My lord, I beg you to take me with you! Make me yours! I will serve you no matter what you ask! Anything you wish, I will do! Please don't leave me here in the South any longer."

Unaffected by the pained speech, Sesshomaru simply walked away. Hearing the demoness desperately following after him, his patience reached their end. In a blur, he spun around and grabbed the demoness by her throat and hauled her into up into the air. His claws around her throat instantly glowed green and the scent of burning flesh poured out into the air as the woman's whimpers became pained gasps and muffled screams.

Eyes bleeding red and lip snarled up, the demon lord growled out "You should have heed this Sesshomaru's warnings. Now your life is forfeit."

The demoness said nothing as her wind pipe was promptly crushed and her form went slack. She was soon dropped to the ground and left with her eyes still open, the horror etched into them forever.

Beginning to walk away, the dog demon stopped when he felt one of the two blades on his left hip pulsate. Knowing his sword wished to be drawn, he ignored it momentarily. Several more strong pulses reverberated from the sheathed weapon in attempts to make him draw it. A white aura started forming over the hilt, it's pure white energy trying to grab it's master's attention.

"Tenseiga, you wish to save a wretch like her?" Sesshomaru questioned aloud. His response came soon enough by another throbbing pulse.

An irritated growl escaped the dog demon's lips at the mere thought of reviving the wind demoness that had taken no heed to his warnings. His right hand twitched for a moment when he contemplated placating the sword to make it stop with it's pulsing. The katana once again released a throb that seemed to try and get him coaxed drawing the fabled Sword of Life.

At long last, he drew the weapon from it's sheath, revealing it's blade shimmering in the white demonic aura. It's glow seemed almost heavenly.

Turning to face the lifeless form of the dead demoness, the Lord of the West concentrated on her body and immediately saw the translucent figures of the pallbearer imps that harvest the souls of the dead. The small imps realized he was staring at them and shuddered in fear when the saw the glowing white weapon in his hand.

"Be gone."

A single swing of the white glowing sword killed the imps and turned them to dust. At the same time, the body of the wind demoness glowed with the same white aura of the dog demon's weapon. Her wounds healed and her crushed wind pipe became whole again.

Drawing breath into her lungs once more and coughing softly, Botan's eyes cracked open to find she was staring up at the sky. Memory of her death prompted her to reach up to her neck to find that it no longer had any acid burns and that she could breath normally. Confused, she sat up and saw the demon lord standing several feet away.

Returning the Sword of Heaven to it's sheath, Sesshomaru swiftly turned away and proceeded to walk off. His words filled the air as his steps took him further away from the demoness.

"Do what you wish with your new life. However, do not even appear before this Sesshomaru again with such a request."

000

000

Walking a few steps ahead of her brother and sister-in-laws, Lilly inwardly sighed at the looks many of the men (demon, human, and hanyou alike) were giving her.

She had grown used to the disgusted looks she had received at first when she originally traveled with her mate over her being a hanyou, however, these looks put her more on edge. The looks themselves revealed the lust each had and it made her feel dirty just knowing the kinds of thoughts the men were probably thinking of.

Realizing her brother-in-law must be sensing her irritable feeling of annoyance, she heard him growl loudly before drawing his sword and sparking it's transformation in the process.

"WILL YOU BASTARDS QUIT OGLING HER!" Inuyasha snarled. Threateningly, he brandished it at the men, making those that had ignored him reconsider.

Thankful for his actions but also even more highly annoyed by his overprotective behavior, the neko whispered "What a bother."

"Be thankful I keep them at bay." the brash hanyou declared while sheathing his weapon. "The bastards have no right to look at mated women like they do."

"That's a bit over the top. Looking isn't a crime." Kagome muttered in an exasperated tone.

Eyes flashing to his mate, he asked "What would you say if I looked at another woman in that way?"

Shrugging, she replied "Nothing probably. You can look, just don't touch."

"What the fuck! Surely you don't mean that."

"Sit boy."

The prayer beads instantly dragged the dog hanyou to the ground and smashed him face first into the stone floor. A resounding thump filled the hallway and earned a small giggle from the neko.

"Language Inuyasha." Kagome admonished as her eyebrow tweaking. Calming a bit and letting a grin frame her face, she playfully added "Remember you are in the presence of two ladies."

An audible grumble came from the face down hanyou. Ever so slowly as the spell wore off, he started getting back up.

Glaring at his mate, he growled out "Kagome..."

"What mate?" the miko hanyou sweetly asked with a innocent look on her face that dared him to say something that would earn him another dose of submission.

The dog hanyou knew it was futile to say anything spiteful so he held his tongue. On his feet again, he dusted off his kimono and turned to the snickering neko.

"What you laughing about?"

Sobering up and managing to stop her laughter, Lilly waved him off and replied "Oh nothing."

"That's what I thought." Inuyasha grunted. Stomping on down the hallway, he muttered "Come on. We're already late enough."

000

000

Grumbling to himself for even daring to accept such an invitation by his sire's mate, Yukio let out a low growl. He was nearing the room to where he was meet her and he already had second thoughts on doing so.

The white haired hanyou at long last arrived at his destination and stood there for a few moments, debating if he should just leave instead. Knowing the group had already detected his presence most likely, the hanyou inhaled deeply and slid the door open.

Stepping in, Yukio spied his uncle and aunt, along with his so called 'step-mother' all sitting around a low table that had a tea pot and rice balls stacked on it. He didn't bother to hide his annoyance from the group and sat down across from the neko.

"Inuyasha, come." Kagome beckoned to her mate when she stood.

The silver haired hanyou visibly did not want to leave, however, a quick glance at his mate made him warily stand up. Before walking away, he leaned in close to the neko and in a very low tone whispered "I'll be waiting outside."

Refusing to roll her eyes, Lilly waited for the pair of dog hanyous to clear the room. Feeling she had a bit more privacy than in a while, she stretched out her arms and let out a heavy sigh.

"Free at last." she muttered in an exasperated tone while she slid her emerald eyes shut. Keeping them shut, her mind began to go over the speech she had prepared, but just being in the same room as her mate's son left her on edge.

"_It's like always. I never know what to say. He's so difficult..._"

"Why did you call me here?"

Emerald eyes slowly opened to regard the dog hanyou who had a scowl etched into his expression. She could see this would be an enjoyable conversation already.

Lilly calmly steeled herself and held up her hands and placed them together into a hand sign that made her look like she was praying. She noted the dog hanyou tensed up, which she couldn't blame him. Her eyes closed momentarily as the barrier that she had managed to construct around her body with some help from Yoshe lowered itself. With the barrier down, she allowed her scent to flow out whereas she had been restricting it severely before.

Frowning at the neko's actions, Yukio suddenly caught a whiff of her scent. His eyes widened for a moment when he realized what he was detecting.

"You're ..."

"Yes. I am." Lilly curtly answered.

She noted the son of her mate right away took up a pensive look. "_Funny, I didn't think he would ponder on it like this._"

"Does he know?" Yukio questioned in a nonchalant tone.

Shaking her head slowly and letting out a small sigh, she replied "No, he doesn't yet."

"I see." he muttered as he looked away. "I guess I'm to be forgotten then and he gets what he always wanted with you. It only took this many years for me to be replaced by ..."

"No."

Frowning at the neko's answer, Yukio turned to find a soft expression on Lilly's face.

"You are not to be forgotten. I want you to know that this changes nothing. You are always welcome to see us and to visit with us. I only asked you here to let you know that no matter what, you are a part of our lives and nothing will change that. You are your father's son, regardless of how you feel about that. And because of that, you will always have a place within our pack, so do not think for a moment you do not."

Understanding her words, the dog hanyou pensively stared at the table that separated himself and the neko for several long moments. At last, he hesitantly said "Alright."

Smiling at the fact she at least got some sort of answer, she warmly said "No matter what Yukio, you are Iya's son. Like I told you before, I can never replace your mother, but I will be here should you need to speak with me or seek comfort."

"That's kind of funny..." the dog hanyou sarcastically murmured.

A slight smoldering look filled the neko's emerald orbs for a moment, but she saw that he meant it as nothing more than a small ribbing. "What of it?"

"You're far younger than me or my sire... father. It's like having a kid tell an adult what to do."

Lilly let out a light chuckle and nodded her head in agreement. "I know. Still, just know I am here for you if you need me to be."

Releasing a heavy sigh, she muttered "And now I go back to being watched like a hawk."

Getting a mischievous idea in her mind, she sweetly asked "Any chance of you talking your uncle into letting you guard me instead?"

"No."

"You're no fun." she pouted. However, it didn't escape her sight that the dog hanyou's twisted into a small smile.

000

000

Approaching the damaged structure of the Eastern Castle, Orihime marveled at it's size. Beside her, Ichigo felt annoyed yet again by another over luxurious structure.

"Can't these damn lords ever build something simple that don't look like they're overcompensating for something or stroking their ego." the quarter demon moodily stated.

Ignoring her mate's foul mood, the demoness smiled and said "Cheer up Ichigo, we're here at last and in near record time I might add. Usually the trip takes two weeks at top speed. Lucky for us we got here in under a week and a half. I bet Iya will be happy we'll get back ahead of schedule."

"Che, whatever." the orange haired man retorted.

The two bobcats soon reached the main doors to the castle where a small squad of guards from the Northern Lands stopped them. Altogether there were ten on duty, each seemingly on edge.

"State your business." a wolf demon said as he moved to the forefront of the group and directly in front of the two mates.

"We're Ichigo and Orihime Kurosaki, sent here by Iya Taisho to retrieve his mate." Ichigo stated in a clearly annoyed tone. "If you'll step aside, we'll go find her and be on our way again."

Moving up beside the wolf guard was a burly bear demon who gruffly asked "Do you have proof of this?"

Eyebrow twitching in annoyance at the stupidity of the guards, it took every bit of restraint within the quarter demon to keep from screaming in frustration at the bear. Reining in his emotions and urges, he reached within his kosode and pulled out a letter that had been written for him just in case something like this would happen. He practically shoved it into the hands of the wolf demon and impatiently tapped his foot as he waited for the demon to read.

A minute passed before the wolf handed the letter back, saying "They have permission to enter into the castle."

Ichigo quickly took the letter and placed it back into his outer top hastily. Stalking off, he made his way towards the main doors with his mate trailing him. A few of the guards didn't move, but a rough shove moved them aside.

"You bastards are in my way." he practically snarled as he pushed through the remainder of the guards.

Some of the guards started to react only to get glares from the wolf demon that seemed to be in charge of their group. They backed off upon those reactions and returned to their posts.

The pair of bobcats proceeded on into the castle at a slow pace, each taking their time and in no hurry to reach the person they sought.

"Orihime Inoue."

Looking to find the owner of the voice belonged to Tsunade, Orihime warmly smiled and quickly moved to before the blonde buxom.

"It's Kurosaki." the bobcat mage corrected in a kind tone. Smiling, she added "It's good to see you again Tsunade."

"Ah, my mistake." the dog demoness admitted. Rubbing the back of her head, she put on a smile and asked "What brings you two to the Eastern Castle? I thought you were both in the Southern Keep."

Smiling back, the demoness was about to reply when she was cut off by her mate. "We're here on an errand."

"What kind?"

"A private one." Ichigo tersely remarked.

"Ichigo," Orihime admonished, "there is no need to be rude. She's just curious. You'd ask the same if it were the other way around."

Palm smacking her hand, the mage cheerily said "I forgot, Ryo gave me something to give to you before we left."

Searching her white haori, the bobcat soon found the inner pocket and removed the letter she had been asked to carry to the dog demoness. She retrieved it and handed it over to the buxom, who had a look of surprise on her face.

"He wanted me to give it to you in person since he wasn't able to come."

Softly smiling, the blonde haired woman took the letter and fingered it for a few moments. Deciding to read it later, she slid it into the inner pocket of her green coat.

"How did things go here?" the bobcat asked.

"Well enough, I suppose. We had a lot of casualties but we managed. There were some that lost limbs that can never regain them." the dog demoness commented in a saddened tone.

Softly smiling, the bobcat demoness warmly said "I can fix that."

"Huh?" the dog demoness asked as she blinked in surprise.

Pointing up at the hairpins on each side of her face, Orihime replied "My Shun Shun Rikka isn't limited to just closing up people's wounds. No, they allow me to turn back time and return objects or people back to their original state. If you want, I could look at those patients you spoke of."

A bit bewildered and astonished, Tsunade allowed a small smile to appear on her face. "I would like that. Do you have time?"

"I believe so, right Ichigo?"

"I guess. I'm going to go on ahead though and find Lilly." Ichigo answered.

Nodding her head, the bobcat mage pecked her mate on the cheek, saying "Thanks. I'll catch up once I'm done helping Tsunade."

"Right."

"Let's go then." the dog demoness said and led the way. The bobcat mage immediately fell in step and the pair headed off in the direction of where the wounded remained.

"Guess I might as well track down Lilly." the quarter demon spoke aloud to himself as he moved in the direction he felt the neko's demonic aura.

000

000

After an hour of searching and at last asking someone to point out the location of the neko, the quarter demon found himself standing outside of a room where he could detect her aura. Frowning, Ichigo sense three auras instead of one, making him ponder what was going on. At last, he simply shrugged it off and gently rapped on the door.

A bleary eyed Inuyasha answered the door with a scowl edged into his face. Lighting up a bit when he realized whom was there, he grumbled "What do you want?"

"I'm here on an errand to pick up Lilly."

"Kagome and Lilly are both sleeping." the hanyou gruffly replied. "Come back later."

"You don't have to be such an ass about it." the quarter demon grumbled. "Why are you here anyways? I figured Kagome and you would be in your own rooms, not sharing one with Lilly."

The quarter demon instantly noticed a hesitant look in the dog hanyou's face before he muttered in reply "We have our reasons."

"Well?"

"Well what?"

"What are they?" Ichigo impatiently asked.

"Keep it down or you'll wake them." Inuyasha grit out. Stepping out of the room and into the hallway, he shut the door quietly and turned a glare towards the quarter demon. "You could be considerate you know."

"That's my line."

"Listen, I'm not in the mood for a fight. I have my reasons for being in Lilly's room, that's all."

"They better be damn good ones. I think Iya would be curious to know why two people are staying with his mate."

"That a threat?"

"It's my way of telling you that you'd better explain yourself, immediately."

Growling loudly and stamping his foot, the dog hanyou snarled "I don't have to answer you!"

"Listen, I'm not here to start a fight. I just came for Lilly, so I'd appreciate some answers as to why you are in her room along with Kagome. If you explain yourself I'll accept it and be on my way with her and out of your hair." Ichigo said through clenched teeth.

"And I told you I don't have to answer." the hanyou grit out.

"Why you..."

"Kami you two are loud." a tired voice declared from behind the door. A moment later the door opened to reveal a half hooded emerald eyed neko that appeared to be in a foul mood. "If it's not one thing it's another."

Waking up a bit more when she realized the orange haired bobcat was there, she stifled a yawn and muttered "Why are you here Ichigo? You were supposed to be with Iya."

Folding his arms over his chest and looking away, the quarter bobcat grunted out "Your mate sent Orihime and me on an errand to escort you back to the Southern Keep."

Pointing a finger at the dog hanyou and throwing a glare at him while doing so, Ichigo declared in a irritable tone "The real question here that needs to be answered is why Inuyasha and Kagome are sleeping in your room. With all the rooms in this castle, you can't tell me they're doubling up in this place. Now tell me the truth damn it!"

"Not so loud..." Lilly grumbled as she raised a clawed hand up to her head. She could feel a migraine already coming on from the stress of dealing with the two rowdy males and knew it would only progress further if she didn't settle things quickly.

"Kagome and Inuyasha are here because they're... they're keeping an eye on me."

"And why is that?" the quarter demon questioned in his usual gruff voice.

Looking to her brother-in-law for help, she noted he was looking away and had refused to answer in her defense. "_Traitor..._"

"Well?"

"Ichigo, please, just drop it for now. It was deemed by Inuyasha that I needed to be watched carefully for the time being. Let's leave it at that."

"Not good enough." the quarter demon declared. "Iya expects me to bring you to the Southern Keep, but if something is wrong and I can't, then I need to let him know. So just level with me."

Irked by the persistence of her mate's former partner, the neko felt the vein in her forehead starting to throb and her migraine increase in intensity. Not wishing to waste any more time and wanting nothing more than to curl back up and fall asleep in her room, she daringly reached out and grabbed the quarter demon's top near the neck. Jerking him forward and catching him off guard, she whispered something in a low tone that only he could hear in his ear.

Ichigo's eyes instantly widened and his jaw went slack from the words he had heard. Feeling Lilly let go of his top, he pulled back to look into the eyes of the neko and found no lies within them.

Heavily sighing and rubbing the back of his head, he muttered "Just great..."

**Thanks everyone for reading the chapter. Now, if you could do me a kind favor and review to let me know what you think of the chapter, I'd appreciate it. Till next time!**


	31. Chapter 31: Revelation

**Hey there once more! First off, I am truly sorry for the long break from my last chapter I added. The last time I added a chapter, I had found out I was going on a road trip to my company's HQ in Dayton, OH, the following week. I went for a week and returned home to work for a week, however, the week after I stayed for two weeks in Dayton. It was rough and time consuming mainly. The downtime I had I didn't quite have the encouragement to write. Being away from home kind of threw off my willingness to write. Not to mention I missed my mate terribly, so I wasn't quite up to doing any. I know, excuses excuses, but that was mainly why I never did manage to get a chapter out over the past month. I do apologize for the slowness of completing the chapters. I just didn't feel up to it, so once more, I apologize for it.**

**Anyways, things have been hectic. As I said, I've been on the road for the last 3 out of 4 weeks up at Dayton. I was there mostly to work with the team up there (we have two development teams. I'm the sole member of the first team where I work and the other team is in Dayton's home office). You lose a lot in working with distance but it was fun reconnecting with everyone there over the time I spent there. Of course it was naturally rough on my mate and myself due that I was away for so much time, but we managed. Now that I'm back, I feel happy to be home. I was asked if staying in Dayton was a possible solution, however I say no since my mate and I just bought a home last year, plus my family is here and the fact that I'm comfortable here. But oh well. Maybe one day, but not likely. Other than that, not much new. Just busy.**

**Writing wise, well, you can tell it's slowed. However, I do admit I have ideas on upcoming stories, so that is good enough. Driving 4 hours gives you plenty of time to think on things to do and stories to write.**

**Thanks to auronsword and alex988 for your reviews. Also thanks to whoever anonymously reviewed. Right quick, I'll answer two of the reviews since I already answered auronsword.**

**alex 988: Thanks about the chapter. As for _Eternal War_, no worries on it. I'll reveal more details later. I'd rather not go into discussing it during this story if possible. Sorry if that sounds kind of standoffish but I want to remain focused on finishing off _Path to Dawn_.**

**Anonymous user: I want to think this might be Katana, but not sure, lol. Anyways, you'd have thought that Kouga wouldn't have such a hard time finding a new Lord of the Eastern Lands, but do remember he's trying to find one that will fit the role perfectly, much like how Sesshomaru did in pressuring Iya into becoming the Southern Lord. Yukio is complicated at times. Obviously he does still have some harsh feeling for his Iya but like he said in _Reunion_, he does not hate him any longer. I'm sure that'll get addressed somewhere, maybe, lol. And yes, poor Inuyasha. The protector that no one understands. I have a feeling he's thankful Ichigo took over. Ichigo will have his hands full, hehe.**

**That's all for the reviews. Thank you all three of you that reviewed. I really appreciate it very much. If I haven't said it in the past, let it be known, I love feedback. Good, bad, or indifferent, it's nice to see what you readers think. These stories are mostly things I made up in my head or got ideas from my mate on and just thought I'd share. Hearing what someone else thinks makes it seem like I'm at least conveying the point and at least making it seem believable. At any rate, I'm nothing without you guys, so that's why I encourage reviews so I can see if I am doing a decent job. Thanks for any and all feedback.**

**Well, that does it for me today. I'll try to get the next chapter out soon. In the meantime, I'm issuing a challenge.**

**The challenge is this: name the game I got the idea for the name of _Descending Twilight_ and _Path to Dawn_ from. One hint is that it is a series of games with a sequel in the wings, I hope and am excited to see. Here is the dialog from the ending of the game that made me think up the names of both stories.**

**R: "What are you making me choose now?"**

**A: "Between the road to light... and the road to darkness."**

**R: "Neither suits me. I'm taking the middle road."**

**A: "Do you mean the twilight road to nightfall?"**

**R: "No. It's the road to dawn."**

**Name the game and I will let you in on a little secret. If no one answers, I'll reveal the secret and the source next time. Till then, enjoy!**

**Chapter 31**

"This is such a pain in the ass." Ichigo muttered to himself. Trailing behind him were Lilly and Orihime that were talking among themselves about the battles they had faced and their training.

Already irritated since they had set out from the Eastern Castle that morning at an unbearably slow pace due to his mate and the neko hanyou, the quarter demon came to a complete stop and growled out "Can you two hurry up a bit! I'd like to return to the Southern Keep as soon as possible, but with you two lagging behind so much it will be impossible to do so."

"You know, I could get us there a lot faster if you'd let me transform." Lilly coldly fired back. "I could have us there in only a week or less. It would make this trip pass quicker."

"We've been over this already. There is no way in hell I am letting you transform into your true form and carry us there. Just get your butt in gear and let's keep moving." Ichigo countered stubbornly.

"_Oh that won't go over well..._" Orihime mentally muttered. She shook her head at the attitude her mate had taken since they had left the castle before softly saying "Ichigo, try to be reasonable. We're just catching up is all. Give us a chance to at least find out what each other have been doing since the last time we met up. It's not like we'll make it halfway or something today."

"Oh really?" the quarter demon asked with a mischievous look in his eyes.

Unsure what the quarter bobcat had planned, the neko was about to respond when she suddenly felt herself lifted off the ground into the arms of said man. Realizing he was carrying her bridal style, she was about to say something but wasn't given the chance as he suddenly flashed away. The fierce wind played with her hair as he increased his speed.

"Put me down!" Lilly hissed.

"Nah. Things will work better this way."

Lilly glared straight at the quarter demon's face and threateningly said "I will make you."

"And risk falling?" Ichigo quipped.

"Cats always land on their feet."

"Yeah but you're only a half cat and I'm willing to bet you aren't willing to risk that." the quarter demon challenged.

Knowing he had a point but not willing to relent, the neko let out a growl and grit out "You will pay for this."

"Whatever. For now relax. We'll make up a lot of ground this way."

Sensing the bobcat mage suddenly beside the quarter demon, the neko noted that the mage appeared rather miffed with her mate. A distinct look of displeasure was fixated in her features along with a smoldering glare within her usually tranquil gray eyes.

"_Note to self, never get Orihime mad._" Lilly mentally commented.

000

000

"I think that's far enough for today." Ichigo declared as he came to a skidding stop.

Reaching the side of her mate and panting lightly, Orihime said nothing. Sweat poured down the sides of her face and her body ached from all the high speed movement she had performed.

"_I don't think I've moved that fast ever... Maybe he'll lighten up tomorrow._"

"You can let me down."

"Oh yeah, forgot about you." the quarter demon smartly said. Gently, he lowered Lilly back onto her feet.

Without warning, the neko nailed the quarter demon in the jaw with a punch that sent the unsuspecting man flying through a tree. The broken tree creaked from the damage for a moment before at long last falling onto Ichigo comically.

Ichigo soon enough pushed the tree off and was back on his feet. He flashed back in front of the neko and growled out "What the hell was that for!"

"When I say let me down, I mean let me down. I'm not as feeble as you want to believe. I hope that punch let you know that much." the neko hotly stated. "I can run with you two, so don't even think about trying to carry me like that again. Next time I won't hesitate to make you drop me while running."

Irate at his said charge, the quarter demon started to fire back but never got the chance.

"Bakudō 73: Tozanshō."

Appearing around the quarter demon immediately was a pyramid shaped barrier that effectively sealed him within and gave him very little space to move about.

Taken by surprise, Ichigo suddenly noticed it was his mate that had cast the spell. Before he could even get out a single word, Orihime stormily declared "Listen Ichigo, I know you take this job of protecting Lilly seriously but do not repeat today's actions again. Lilly should be allowed to travel with us if she wants to. It's really quite good for her to do so in my opinion."

"Orihime..." Ichigo growled but was cut off.

"I'm leaving you in there while I go find us some dinner. When I return I'll let you out. You need time to cool off." the bobcat mage stated in a stern tone. Softening a bit, she added "I'm doing this as a favor for you, so please, don't take it personally. You know I'm right."

That said, the orange haired buxom turned away and proceeded to walk further into the woods. Stopping for a moment and looking over her shoulder at the neko, she calmly declared with sternness echoing in her voice "Lilly, stay here at camp. Don't make me have to track you down."

Gulping at the fact the demoness was giving her orders in such a scary tone, Lilly was quick to nod her head in agreement.

"Good. Play nice you two." were the mage's parting words as she went deeper into the woods.

Waiting till the mage was out of sight, Lilly whispered "She's scary when she's mad."

"Yeah..." Ichigo agreed.

000

000

"I really don't need an escort..."

"And I won't let you go out alone. Besides, Orihime is taking care of the things that need done before we leave out." Ichigo retorted.

Growling, the neko shot back "I can freshen up on my own. You don't need to worry, not like I'm going to vanish. And besides, if a demon had the audacity to attack me, Haineko would make him wish he never had. So let me go on without you."

"Or maybe you're wanting to watch a woman get freshened up. Are you already tired of your mate?" Lilly slyly questioned.

Blushing a bit and becoming flustered at the accusation, Ichigo snapped in reply "Just shut up already. I'm not leaving you out here by yourself, so go do your thing and I'll be waiting right here for you to finish up."

"Whatever." the neko muttered.

Scrambling down the embankment to where a stream laid, the neko approached it carefully, being mindful to watch for demons. Sensing none in the area, she walked down to it and kneeled at the water's edge. She pulled out a rag from within her left sleeve and dipped into the water and proceeded to scrub her face for a few moments.

"_Damn that Ichigo, always being so clingy. If it isn't Inuyasha, it's Ichigo. I can protect myself. It's not like I'm some child that has no powers at all._"

Sighing, she added in her mind "_We'll get back to the Southern Keep in nearly two weeks. I don't know if I can handle that much torture from Ichigo until then. Orihime seems to be trying to keep him in check, but still, he's being so damned overprotective of me._"

"_If only we could get there faster..._"

Hearing the quarter demon up above on the embankment moving away for some reason, the neko suddenly grinned as a plan formed in her mind.

000

000

"_What the hell was that noise? I know I thought I sensed something over here._" Ichigo commented in his mind.

He was given his answer as a group of crows shot out of tree, leaving in their wake loud crowing. Sighing, the quarter demon reached up and rubbed his forehead.

"_I guess I'm too wound up about keeping Lilly safe. Maybe Orihime is right and I need to ..._"

Just as he was about to complete the statement within his mind, a powerful aura roared to life from down at the stream. "Are you kidding me! Damn it!"

Ichigo quickly raced back to the stream only to find a massive black cat flying out from the embankment and taking to the air in a hurried pace. The cat had a twinge of red fur mixed in with her black coat around her neck, fire on all four paws and the tip of her long tail, long sharp fangs that poked out from her mouth, and red eyes with yellow slits. Flames billowed from her paws as she climbed higher and higher into the sky.

"LILLY! GET BACK HERE!" Ichigo screamed at the top of his lungs.

The large neko paid no paid attention to the command and simply continued to gain altitude and headed in a southwestern direction.

Racing through the trees from branch to branch in an attempt to keep pace with the flying neko above him, Ichigo let out a low growl as he reached a wide ravine. He easily leapt across it and continued pursuit but the neko was getting away due that she was higher in the air and had no obstacles unlike himself.

"Alright enough." Ichigo grit out. Leaping higher into the top of a tree, the quarter demon reached behind himself and took firm hold of the hilt of his zanpakutō. Drawing it, the white cloth that cloaked it unwrapped to reveal the glimmering cold black and silver steel of the long cleaver blade. Holding it out directly in front of himself, he braced his right arm with his left hand in his elbow and called forth his black and red demonic aura.

"BANKAI!"

Black and red aura engulfed the quarter demon in an instant and hid him from view for more than a few moments. At last, it vanished to reveal his form dressed in his trench coat and carrying the black katana.

"Wanna play hard ball huh? Fine then, here I come!"

Crouching down low, the quarter demon's aura flexed outwards and started gathering around his feet. Pushing off with a massive surge, he shot himself high into the air like a rocket at the shrinking form of the neko.

In the meantime, the neko felt a bit proud of herself that her escape had worked. She only hoped the pair of bobcats would keep pace or would at last relent and allow her to carry them like she had wanted to in the first place.

Her thoughts were broken instantly when a black blur with orange hair shot in front of her. She realized immediately whom it was that had bypassed her as she came to a screeching stop due that the quarter demon had his left hand held out and caught her expertly on the nose.

"And just where the hell do you think you're going?" Ichigo demanded.

The only answer to come from the large neko was a simple nonchalant growl.

"Land. Now."

A few moments passed before the quarter demon flashed away and was over top of the neko's head. Gently as possible, he started pushing down on her, forcing her body to start traveling towards the ground with resistance.

"Don't be difficult. Land or I'll make you."

Lilly knew she had no choice left in the matter and decided to obey for the time being. She willingly started descending quicker, causing the quarter demon to relax his grip but to keep his hand near her head just in case she decided to bolt.

On the ground again, the neko landed gently as the quarter bobcat flashed back in front of her to stare into her eyes with his traditional scowl etched into his face. Placing his black katana onto his right shoulder, he coolly said "Revert back to your hanyou form so we can get this show on the road. I'm sure Orihime is wondering what the hell happened back there."

The response he got was a simple stubborn shake of the neko's head, making the vein in his forehead throb more than it already was.

"Quit being difficult. You know we need to get to the Southern Keep quickly, so transform back and let's go!" Ichigo all but shouted.

Earning a snort, the quarter demon became further irate at the mate of his partner. He was about to shout something when his mate suddenly burst out of the tree tops and landed neatly before the pair.

"Bakudō 1: Sai!"

Before Ichigo could react his arms were wrenched behind his back. The action was so sudden to him he lost his balance and fell face first into the ground.

Seeing this, the neko let out a low growl that sounded like a laugh until she noted the furious look on the bobcat mage's face.

"Bakudō 9: Geki!"

Lilly's body instantly went rigid. A red aura surrounded her body that seemed to keep her locked in place.

"I'm fucking tired of both of you two pulling shit like this!" Orihime snarled.

Both the neko and the quarter bobcat's mouths went slack and gaped at the usage of said words from the mage. She always spoke so kindly and properly that the use of foul language left both in truly bewildered states.

Throwing a fierce glare at her mate's prone form, she snapped out "Ichigo, quit being so damn overbearing with Lilly! If she wants to transform and carry us, let her for a bit. And I don't mean five minutes or less, I mean something like half a day. So help me I will lock you up in a barrier for the remainder of the trip if you refuse to let up!"

A small grunt of satisfaction escaped the large neko's mouth, only to have it vanish when fierce gray eyes flashed on her form.

"And you! Quit testing Ichigo so much Lilly! He's only trying to protect you. Sure, he's going a bit too far with it but he doesn't want you to get hurt. You will get the chance to carry us half a day, however, once we dismount and you revert back, let Ichigo or myself carry you. That way you can rest somewhat and won't strain yourself. Refuse and I won't hesitate to just lock you up too!"

Hands on her hips, the seething demoness growled out "Hell, I might even lock both of you up just to get you to behave!"

Inhaling deeply for several moments, the demoness soon slid her eyes shut and quenched her eyes shut. A minute passed before she exhaled deeply and turned calmer eyes towards the pair that were held by her spells. Her wrist flicked at both, releasing each.

Ichigo silently stood up and dusted himself off. His transformed zanpakutō reversed back to it's cleaver blade form instantly. Sheathing it, he tried to meet the eyes of his mate for a moment only to flick them away.

Lilly at the same time shook herself and stretched out her paws. Being held against her will had made her demon blood scream for freedom yet she had managed to keep the said feelings tamped down. She chanced a look at the mage momentarily but quickly turned her head away.

Putting a smile on her face that was visibly forced, Orihime sweetly asked "Shall we go then?"

The quarter bobcat and neko without hesitation nodded in acknowledgement. Kneeling, the neko allowed the pair to mount up onto her back. Once both were on, she crouched down and took to the skies with a leap.

000

000

A week flew by like it was nothing until the trio arrived at the front of the Southern Keep.

Thinking back on the trip, Lilly had to admit that after the day of Orihime's anger becoming visible, the three had traveled much faster and without argument. She had carried the two on her back in the morning till mid or late afternoon and then let the pair off. After that, she would rest as she was carried by either the quarter bobcat or the mage.

Ichigo had let up on being so controlling and overprotective, though from time to time it was obvious he was forcing himself to do so. At the same time, Lilly had held up her part of the bargain and kept from tormenting the quarter demon like she had the first day or two of the trip.

Since the explosion of anger, Orihime had settled back into her normal happy-go-lucky self, though when times were tense she would send a warning glance at either of the two that had caused an incident. That immediately put the group back into a settled mood and kept the trio from having another 'incident'.

Seeing they nearing the entryway of the Southern Keep, Lilly softly said "Ichigo, let me down so I can walk the rest of the way."

"I'd rather not."

"Don't be belligerent..." the neko growled. "I need to stretch out my legs."

A moment passed before the quarter demon tiredly replied "This place isn't exactly safe. There are many demons here who wouldn't bat an eye at taking you out for being a hanyou. I don't want to chance it."

About to reply, the neko held her tongue. "_He's right... I'm not powerless but neither do I need to be picking a fight. I'll play it his way, for now._"

Reaching the entryway to the keep, the trio found four guards keeping watch. Two were full neko demons, another was a owl demon, and the last member of the foursome was a panther demon. Each wielded spears and shields with swords tied to their hips.

"Back again, quarter breed?" the panther smugly asked.

Ichigo was visibly annoyed but ignored the comment. "Open up."

"What is your hurry? We need to know who that half breed on your back is. She a whore you brought back for that half breed loving ..."

"Listen, I'd shut your mouth if you know what's good for you. I'm tired and not in the mood to deal with you idiots today. Step aside and open up." Ichigo declared with irritation radiating in his voice.

Sneering back at the orange haired man, the neko with long black hair smugly retorted "Who is going to stop us? Maybe we should check this half breed out closer. She could be a danger."

"Let me down..." Lilly ground out in a low whisper.

"Not now."

"Why not let her down trash? We may need to strip search her to make sure she's not concealing any weapons that could hurt someone within the keep." the second neko cheekily declared.

In a flash, Lilly was free of Ichigo's hold on her and had her fist smashed into the face of the cheeky neko demon and sent him flying into the door with enough force to cause a small fracture in the solid oak. She flashed a challenging glare at the remaining three, daring all of them to say or do something to her.

The panther demon took up the challenge and went to grab her from behind. Instead, he received a power laden kick in the stomach before he could even reach the neko hanyou. The kick sent him skidding backwards and smashing into the outer wall of the keep.

Brandishing his spear, the last neko charged the hanyou. She remained still till he was about to stab her. Without warning, she flashed away and reappeared directly behind him. With a mighty punch to his jaw, she sent him flying into the opposite wall that she had kicked the panther into.

"Do you want to try?" Lilly hissed at the owl demon.

The owl was rapidly shaking his head in a no motion, prompting the neko to ground out "Let us in then."

Quickly doing as he was told, the owl demon opened the heavy doors to the keep. Walking into the keep with her head held high, the neko flashed one last glare at the owl before disappearing into the building. The quarter demon and bobcat mage followed suit.

"I hope that isn't the norm always." Lilly muttered in frustration. "If it is, I pity those that live here."

Glancing from one to another, the bobcats remained silent. Clearing his throat, Ichigo coolly said "Let's go on. Iya is waiting."

Lilly instantly brightened at the mere mention of her mate's name. "Lead on then."

000

000

Nearly thirty minutes had passed before the trio arrived outside of a door. Ichigo didn't even knock before opening the shoji door.

"Yo Iya, we're back with Lilly."

"Already? That was fast." Iya commented. The dog hanyou sat at a low desk across the room with two stacks of papers on each side of him. He was currently in mid-stroke of signing one when his door had opened, though he already knew whom it was due to their aura.

"Yeah." Ichigo answered blandly. "Need anything else?"

Finishing up with his signature, Iya set down his brush and stood up. Seeing his mate standing next to the pair of bobcats, he felt the weight of worry over her traveling to the Southern Lands being lifted, however, another heavy weight weighed on his mind over the topic he knew he had to discuss with her. Expression unchanging, he moved towards the trio calmly.

"No, nothing else. Thank you, Ichigo and Orihime. I'll speak to both of you tomorrow."

"Whatever." the quarter demon retorted sharply. Turning away, he added "Let's go Orihime."

Bowing gently to the dog hanyou, Orihime followed after her mate, leaving the neko to stand alone in the hallway.

Eyes running over the form of his mate, the male hanyou noted something seemed off but paid no heed to it. Seeing her replicating his actions, he inwardly smirked.

"Are you going to stand there and gawk or come in, mate?" he sultrily asked.

Lilly suddenly launched herself into the room and into the arms of her mate. The two hugged one another fiercely and fell into a hungry, passionate kiss. Unwrapping her tail from around her hips, she used it to reach out and slide the door shut, giving the two some privacy.

The dog hanyou couldn't help but let out a low growl when he heard a soft mew escape from his mate's lips. Both hanyous' hands started roaming the other's body, with the neko's mostly focusing on her mate's loose hair. Similarly, the male hanyou had found his hands run along her back, being mindful not to use his claws to accidentally scratch her.

Inhaling deeply, Iya's eyes suddenly snapped open. He broke apart the kiss to find his mate's cheeks stained with a pink blush and a bewildered expression on her face.

"Why are you suppressing your scent?"

Instantly realizing what he was asking, Lilly mentally smacked herself. "_I should have known he'd instantly realize it. After all, he always checks my scent. Well, I guess now is how it'll be._"

"Well?"

The neko's brow furrowed for a moment as she thought of the best way to tell him. Deciding to follow suit to how she had told her mate's son, she moved towards the window on the far wall and let out a heavy sigh.

Turning to face her mate again, she held up her hands and formed a hand sign that made it look like she was praying. The neko eyes fluttered shut as she focused on the barrier surrounding her body that became visible for only a brief moment. Slowly, it faded away into nothingness. With it gone, she then stopped the forcible restriction of holding back her scent and allowed it to waft into the air.

Confused by the actions of his mate but waiting patiently, the dog hanyou soon found his mate's scent floating in the air. Sniffing it, he immediately noticed something was off. It didn't take long for him to add things up and determine what was off about her scent and why her body had looked different to him after their long separation.

Iya let out a low growl that made the neko back up a few feet closer to the wall. She watched her mate moving closer, anger visibly reflecting in his normally tranquil muddy brown eyes.

"Who did it!" he demanded.

Not sure by what he meant, the neko didn't have a chance to respond as her mate was directly in front of her. She noticed that anger radiated off of him in waves that put her on edge.

"I want to know who did this to you." Iya ground out. His chest was starting to heave as he tried to contain his anger. "If they're still alive, they won't be for long."

Still confused by her mate's words, Lilly asked "What are you talking about?"

"I want to know who dared defile my mate!" the dog hanyou all but roared.

Processing her mate's words for a moment, the statement he was making at last sank in. "You think someone raped me..."

Bit by bit, a small smile appeared on the neko's face along with a light chuckle forming in her throat. She saw the anger swelling within her mate's eyes and realized she needed to explain quickly before he stormed off.

Gently as possibly, Lilly took her mate's hand within her own and placed a light kiss on it. "Iya, I haven't been defiled by anyone. Mate, I'm carrying **your** child and no one else's."

The dog hanyou's eyes instantly widened in shock. Anger forgotten, he sputtered out "But how..."

"That night before we both left was when."

Shaking his head slowly in a no fashion, the male hanyou quipped "But you weren't fertile!"

Realizing what he just said, the dog hanyou turned away with his cheeks stained red. Hearing a small giggle, he turned back to find his mate giving him a soft smile.

"I know you've been checking for some time when I was fertile or not." the neko admitted with a touch of guilt in her voice. "You don't need to be ashamed about it."

Smile slipping away, she added "I know I was pressuring you about not having children for a long time up until right before the war. I accidentally caught you talking at your mother's grave one night and decided then not to push you about having your child any longer. I understood why you didn't just yet, so I didn't make a fuss about it any longer."

"I honestly didn't mean to intrude on you that night. I promised myself on that night that I would do everything I could to take away all that hurt, to make your burden less."

The dog hanyou was left speechless at his mate's statements. Looking away, he mumbled "I'm sorry for making you have to wait."

"It's alright. Now then, on to the topic at hand."

"Right..." he whispered. Brows knitted together, the male hanyou muttered "I don't get it. You were not fertile that night I came to you. The only thing I can remember is I felt like I was drowning in your scent that night."

Thinking back on the night herself, the neko started going through her mind on what could have possibly threw her mate off. She remembered that she had taken a bath an hour before her mate had returned to the room and prepared her body for him. Running through the list of things she had done, she recalled she had bathed using a new soap and shampoo that Kagome had brought over from her time. Checking things off mentally, she recalled she had shaved her legs, thoroughly cleansed herself, and then dried off. Once she had finished up, she had rubbed some lotion over her body that had come with the soap and shampoo. In the end, she had threw on some new silk undergarments she had received via her sister-in-law as a gift for such an occasion.

"I wonder... What did you smell when you came in?"

Tapping his chin, the dog hanyou thoughtfully said "I remember your raspberry scent was really very overpowering to my senses. It was like being dumped in a bat of raspberries and then covered in them till you could smell nothing but them."

Nodding her head, the neko folded her arms over her chest and digested her mate's words. After a moment, she asked "Could you smell anything else?"

"Not really. I was literally drowning in your raspberry scent. It was so strong that I couldn't even smell myself. Later when we were laying in bed, I could smell the scent of our sex, but that was very much later in the night. Beyond that, I don't think I picked anything else up."

Taking his own turn to become thoughtful, the dog hanyou slowly said "You told me Kagome had brought you some new things to bathe in. Perhaps that was the problem. Your scent was so accented by the soap and lotion you had used that I couldn't tell anything about you and thought everything was fine. That's all I can think of that would keep me from determining you were fertile."

"I guess so."

Realization suddenly dawned on Iya's mind as he let out a low growl. "How soon did you know you were pregnant?"

It was now Lilly's turn to look away. She clenched her hands tightly a few times while her ears dropped a bit. Her tail twitched a handful of times as she stood there trying to decide how to tell her mate the truth of the matter at hand.

Resolved to answer the question at long last, she said in a voice barely above a whisper "I didn't figure it out till we were a few days out from the Eastern Castle."

"We were a little over three weeks into the trip to the castle when I made the discovery. Tsunade found out too when I carelessly exposed my scent to her."

Wringing her hands together, she continued on. "She tried to talk me into falling into the back of the group so that I would be out of danger. I couldn't accept that... Regardless of the facts, I just couldn't do that to Yoshe."

"Was the risk worth it? You could have lost our ..."

"I know!" Lilly snapped angrily. Anger fading quickly as she regretted her hasty reaction, she softly said "I know... It was reckless of me to do so, to put our child in that much danger."

Clenching her hands tightly into fists at her sides, she quietly added "But I couldn't let Yoshe go alone. I would have hated myself for the rest of my life if I had. That battle... she wouldn't have made it through it alone. I... I... I..."

Looking up at her mate with tears streaming down her face, she whimpered out "I couldn't bear the thought of Yoshe dying again. She would have went alone if she knew, so I hid it. What I did was dangerous, but I just couldn't let her ..."

Stopped mid-sentence, Lilly felt herself pulled into a tight embrace by her mate. Laying her head on his shoulder, she let out a few sobs and weakly said "I'm sorry."

"Don't be. You did what you felt was right. I'm slightly angry you put yourself and our child in that much danger, but I know you didn't do it lightly. I understand, you wished to protect Yoshe and made a choice that was risky. I can't blame you for following your heart."

"Though," Iya trailed off, "I wish you would have reconsidered and asked one of the others to accompany her instead."

Staying like this for a few minutes, the pair of hanyous soon separated with the neko's eyes being puffy from her tears. She weakly smiled up at her mate and moved forward again to snuggled into his chest.

"I've missed you so much."

"I've missed you too, mate."

Protective arms wrapped around the neko, drawing her in closer to the dog hanyou. Resting his head on top of his mate's, the male hanyou deeply inhaled her raspberry scent. Her scent was mixed with his cinnamon and woods scent due that she carried their child but it seemed to add and accent it. His mind calmed a bit from the turmoil that had been plaguing him.

The two stayed embracing one another for what seemed like hours but in actuality was only a short twenty minutes. At last, the two separated a bit and looked one another over.

"Lilly..." Iya whispered as he reached out and cupped her cheek. He felt her lean into his hand as she let out a light sigh of contentment.

Retracting his hand, the dog hanyou stood staring into his mate's eyes. Emerald met muddy brown and held each other's attention for several long moments.

The moment wasn't meant to last as a knocking on the door interrupted the pair.

A low growl of irritation escaped the dog hanyou's mouth. Moving away from his mate, he went to the door to open it. Before he did, he took a few deep breaths and calmed his mind. At last he had control of himself as he slid the door open.

Standing outside of it in a kneeling position was a female neko demon. Her hair was a shade of midnight blue and was a bit short with her pointed ears poking through it. The demon's eyes matched the color of her hair and were lowered at the moment. Her clothing consisted of a black choker around her neck, a black top that was outlined by light blue on the hems, pair of light blue pants, a purple obi sash, and a pair of tabi socks and sandals. In her sash sat a sword that had a light purple hilt and sheath and round silver guard. Twitching behind her was a blue colored fur tail.

"Lord Iya." she silkily said with a small smile on her face.

"Rise General Sensho."

Standing up and batting her eyes at the dog hanyou for a moment, she spoke slowly in a sensual tone that would make most men melt. "I bring good news, Lord Iya. The perimeter around the Southern Keep remains quiet tonight, with only one incident to speak of. It seems earlier three guards at the front gates were knocked about and only one did not receive any damage. They refused to answer whom harmed them."

Sweat dropping over the mere mention of the three guards she had beaten down, Lilly merely turned away though kept a careful eye and ear on the demoness.

"Were they alright?"

"Yes milord. They refused to answer my question of whom did it though." the demoness answered. Edging closer and into the dog hanyou's personal space and swishing her tail briefly like an accident against his hip, she smoothly asked "Perhaps you could convince them?"

"If necessary, I suppose."

"Hadō 1: Shō!"

The declaration caught the neko demoness off guard as an invisible force suddenly smashed into her gut and shot her backwards into the hallway and into a wall. The impact knocked the breath out of her and leaving her a bit stunned.

"Bakudō 30: Shitotsu Sansen!"

Three fangs of golden demonic energy pinned the demoness to the wall, with one fang on each arm and one on her waist. The three fangs had effectively dug into the wall for a solid hold.

Flashing to directly in front of the demoness with eyes a blazing, Lilly reached out and took hold of the neko's collar and snarled out "He is my mate! Back off!"

"What? Your mate?" Sensho asked in complete confusion. Looking to the dog hanyou to confirm or deny the claim by the crazed neko hanyou, she saw him heavily sigh as he placed his hand over his forehead.

Taking a moment to compose his answer, he slowly replied "Lilly is my mate, General."

The neko was visibly crushed by the response and bowed her head a bit. Raising her head up in realization that she had everything to gain still yet, she came face to face with the furious neko hanyou that dared her to say anything. Midnight blue met emerald for a few brief seconds before the demoness looked away.

"Could you release me?"

"Stay away from Iya. I'm warning you this one time alone."

Sensho threw a small smirk at the visibly irked hanyou and smartly said "I cannot do so seeing how he is the Lord of the Southern Lands."

"_Oh Kami, here we go. Not how I wanted Lilly to find out._"

"Come again?" Lilly asked, her face filled with confusion. "He isn't the Southern Lord."

"True but it will be official in less than three months." the demoness smugly stated. Taking in the confused expression on the face of her rival, the neko added in a obvious smug tone "You didn't know, did you?"

"General Sensho, that's enough." Iya declared in a gruff tone. "Lilly, release her."

Realizing her mate had spoken to her, the neko hanyou's emerald orbs flashed dangerously at her mate's muddy brown ones. A challenge seemed silently issued from him to ignore his request.

Not wanting to cause the scene to get any further out of hand, the neko backed away from the demoness and turned towards her mate. Snapping her fingers, the three golden fangs of energy evaporated away into nothingness and allowed the general mobility again. Deciding she wasn't done, she walked up to her mate and laid a fierce, nearly brutal kiss on his lips before walking back into the study.

"_Kami help me._" were the only thoughts escaping the dog hanyou's mind. Realizing the general remained still, he cleared his throat and said "We will speak tomorrow, General Sensho. Good night."

Bowing to the dog hanyou gracefully and batting her eyes at him as she rose, she gave her response in a flirty tone of "Good night, my lord."

Watching the demoness walk away with her hips swaying in an attempt to entrance him, Iya heavily sighed and returned to his study. Finding a furious looking Lilly standing in there waiting him with her arms crossed over her chest and fury threatening to spill out of her eyes if he did not explain, the male hanyou let out a heavy sigh.

"I guess I should explain myself. This all began ..."

000

000

"_This is nerve racking._" Iya grumbled in his mind as he paced back and forth in the narrow stone corridor.

Nearby, Lilly sat in a chair with her eyes tracking her mate's every movement. Like second nature her hand slid down to rub her enlarged stomach. As she did so she felt a gentle kick in her womb, making a small smile cross her face. Broken from her thoughts by her mate's pacing increasing in speed, she inwardly sighed as an idea came to mind.

"Mate, come here and feel the baby kicking. It'll help you calm down."

Ceasing his pacing and turning to face the woman he loved, the dog hanyou smiled softly at her and moved over to her. He reached out and ran his hand over her stomach for a moment. A small kick soon hit his hand and made him warmly smile down at his mate.

"Now doesn't that feel better?"

"A bit." Iya admitted in a calm tone. Backing away and dragging a hand through his loose hair, he quietly added "This is so much more stressful than when I had to face the clan lords."

"We'll get through it." Lilly affirmed. Standing and smoothing out her kimono, the neko moved closer to her mate at a slower pace than normally.

Eyeing her, the dog hanyou couldn't help but feel his insides stir from her beauty. Even after she had begun showing she was with child and was now five months along, she had taken on a whole new facade to him that made her look even more exotic than previously. Today she had opted to have her hair partially pinned up in a bun though most of her hair hung down her back. She was wearing a new purple kimono with long flowing sleeves and aqua colored butterflies embroidered into it that accented her newly forming body. The kimono had been prepared for her specifically for the coronation ceremony. A baby blue colored obi sash wrapped elegantly around her waist and formed a perfect bow at her lower back. Within the sash her trusty zanpakutō rested. Her footsteps left a soft clacking sound of wood striking the stone floor from her geta.

Staring at her mate with many thoughts going through her head, the neko hanyou felt herself looking at his form longingly. His hair was not bound in a ponytail like normal that seemed to give him a more peaceful look than usual. The male hanyou's usual raiment was replaced with a new set of clothes that had been made especially for the coronation. It was a fine silk that was mainly white but had black slowly seep into it over halfway up the sleeves. On his back was a picture depicting his true dog form and a crescent moon overhead of the depiction. His pants were a traditional black and an orange obi tied it all together. As always, Ketsaiga sat on his left hip, it's polished black lacquer sheath gleaming in the low light of the hallway. His usual black boots adorned his feet.

Broken from his admiring of his mate by her hand touching his cheek, he reached out and grasped the other hand and leaned in closely to her. Inhaling her calming scent, he felt his mind ease up a bit.

"Sometimes I really wish I had told Sesshomaru to go to hell when he asked me to do this."

"As do I." Lilly agreed in a low chuckle.

Chuckling himself, Iya pulled back and flashed a fanged smile at his mate. "This is for the best."

The dog hanyou earned a small nod to himself. His ears twitched suddenly as he heard footsteps approaching. Finding it was Ichigo, he saw the quarter demon with his arms crossed over his chest and appearing annoyed as always.

"Things look alright. Anytime you're ready we can go." he grunted out.

"I see. Thank you, Ichigo." Iya replied kindly. Getting a grunt as a response, he offered his mate his hand, saying "Let's go Lilly. Time to greet them and let them know what I intend to do for the Southern Lands."

**Thanks everyone for reading the chapter. Now, if you could do me a kind favor and review to let me know what you think of the chapter, I'd appreciate it. Till next time!**


	32. Chapter 32: Happiness

**Hey gang! Well, I'm almost on time with my new chapter. Just a few days late, but hey, that's a new personal record after the last hand full of late chapters, so yay me, lol. I know, it doesn't say much but I tried hard to get a chapter done and look where I am.**

**Life is full of fun things going on. I had a sinus infection, again, and ended up going to get an anti-biotic for it on my day off (President's Day). Came home and woke up the next morning feeling good till I looked at my legs that morning before my shower. They were red and hot feeling. Needless to say, another trip was made to the hospital to figure out what the cause was, which happened to be a bad reaction to that particular anti-biotic. One steroid shot later and a different anti-biotic I seemed to be on the road to recovery at long last. Work was fun also as I finally made some breakthroughs in the project I've been a part of for a while. Plus I got a lot of writing done.**

**A little newsflash to everybody, which will probably be surprising and abrupt. This is the last chapter of _Path to Dawn._ It's been a good run but this is it for this story. Things have run their course and only a few minor things remain unsettled. They will be this chapter.**

**Thanks to Katana and alex 988 for your reviews. I answered Katana via PM, so I'll go ahead and do alex right quick.**

**alex 988: Uh, very short, so thanks about the chapter!**

**So, no one got the answer to my challenge last week. Oh well, that's all good. I'm not sure if I mentioned the game previously or not, but here is the answer. The titles to _Descending Twilight _and _Path to Dawn_ both came to me from the dialog of Riku and Ansem shared at the end of Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories. Ansem assumed Riku would pick the path of darkness or light, however, Riku chose the middle road. Ansem's response was the road to the twilight of nightfall but was wrong again. Riku said it was the road to dawn.**

**And hence where the titles for _Descending Twilight _and _Path to Dawn_ came from. I thought it was such awesome dialog that I cannibalized it for my own purposes.**

**Now then, the little secret I mentioned. Stay tuned to the end of the chapter.**

**Without further ado, enjoy!**

**Chapter 32**

"Kami they annoy the hell out of me."

A moment of silence followed after the statement by a heavy sigh. "I warned you when you came back Yukio that they wouldn't accept your ideals."

"You never said they'd bold face reject the reality of the situation, Sanosuke." Yukio remarked with dripping sarcasm in his voice.

Smirking behind the white haired hanyou was a man that appeared somewhere between his youth and middle age. Brown hair reached down to his shoulders in length and had a bit of spiking to it while a scraggly beard and mustache covered his face. His dark brown eyes seemed hard but had a softness just beneath the surface that was well hidden. Years of training and fighting left his body lean with some muscles showing. Pointed ears poked out from the long hair to reveal his heritage was that of a demon. A red headband was wrapped around his head, with two long flowing pieces of it reaching his mid-back in length. The clothing he chose to wear consisted of an open white tattered kimono top that revealed his chiseled out chest, a pair of white pants that were tied with a band, and white wrapping around his waist that rose up to just below his pecks. On the back of the kimono top embroidered in black was a symbol that represented the word 'bad'. The way he carried himself showed he was under much stress but was attempting to make his way through life.

Shrugging at his companion, Sanosuke coolly retorted "You know how they operate. Chikako had them eating from the palm of her hand when she was still alive. I'm shocked she never did take over completely and push me and Kenji out."

"If not for the fact you had some allies left she would have." the dog hanyou quipped. In a soured tone, he muttered "That bitch led this village to ruin. It'll be years before it can ever be rebuilt into any sort of threat again all thanks to her. In some ways that is good and bad."

"More bad if they intend on carrying out Lord Byakuya's will." the incomplete demon stated.

Nodding mutely, the hanyou added "I think even the council comprehends the situation we are in due to the alliance they had allowed to be struck up with the Eastern Lands."

Noting his friend's footsteps had ceased, the white haired hanyou let out a sigh and added "My apologies, Sanosuke. I did not mean to place the blame on you if you thought that."

"No, I didn't think that." the incomplete demon replied in a calm tone. Glancing down at his hands for a second, he said "We have much to do. The council is losing it's support from the people and that means they'll be pressured more to give into whatever suggestions you have."

"One could only hope." Yukio stated.

Cracking a fanged smile, the brown haired man said "You could probably get them to do anything you wanted."

"Not likely."

"They're desperate enough."

"Yeah well I'm not willing to risk backlash."

A slight chuckle escaped Sanosuke's lips at the words of his comrade. "That's just like you not to take advantage of such a situation."

Taking several steps away before stopping, the dog hanyou replied "I chose not to. That's merely all."

Walking on, he added "I'm going to rest a while. We'll pick up tomorrow."

With that said, the dog hanyou proceeded to flash away. Moments later, he arrived at the small hut that was secluded. His so called "home" was nothing fancy, just a mere hut that was alone and distanced far enough from the rest of the village to give him some peace and quiet.

Entering in, Yukio went into one of three rooms he had. In it was a basin full of water and a towel next to it. Using his hands to wash his face, he soon dried his clawed hands and returned to the main room and started poking at the smoldering embers within the fire pit. A few moments passed before he had a new fire going. He quickly retrieved a kettle and placed several tea leaves within it before hanging it over the fire.

"Skulking about doesn't suit the Lord of the South. Come on out."

"You always did have a knack for finding me." a voice declared from the shadows of the one room the white haired hanyou had not entered into. Entering into the light, the owner of the voice revealed himself to be the younger hanyou's father.

Throwing an irritated glare at the black haired hanyou, Yukio went back to checking the kettle over the fire. The water inside was slowly coming to a boil.

Eerie silence filled the room. The only sounds that could be heard were the two occupants breathing and the water within the kettle starting to boil.

Breaking the stillness, the white haired hanyou gruffly asked "How did you get into the village?"

"I have my ways." Iya wryly replied.

A moment passed before a mutter of "Damn that Uryū" came back.

"You're too hard on him." Iya commented in a scolding tone. Weakly smiling, he softly said "He was only trying to help me and stay loyal to you. Uryū meant no harm."

Going back to tending to the kettle that now had simmering tea within it, the younger hanyou pulled the kettle off the fire and set it down on a towel. He quickly stood and picked up two ceramic cups and brought them over to where the tea lay. Setting them down, he poured out the hot steaming liquid into each cup before returning the kettle to it's hanging position over the fire.

"Here." Yukio grunted as he set a cup of tea down in front of his father. Sitting back down himself, he picked up his own cup and blew on it, sending steam floating into the air. Taking a sip, he threw a disgruntled glare at his father and muttered "You should not have come. As I recall, your mate will soon give birth."

"That almost sounds like concern coming from you."

"Hardly." the white haired hanyou evenly answered. "It seems highly inappropriate for you to leave your mate at such an important time in your lives to come see me."

A small smile crossed the black haired hanyou's face for a moment as he replied "Lilly has another month till it is time for our daughter to come into this world."

"Daughter?"

"Yes. Dog demons have very sharp noses as you might already know and can detect the sex of the baby in the later stages of pregnancy. You know that much I figure." Iya remarked.

"Hn."

An uncomfortable silence filled the room immediately. Taking a sip of his tea and then staring into the steaming liquid, Iya mentally made up his mind at last and looked over at his son.

"Yukio, I came to talk to you about your sister."

"Half sister." Yukio corrected.

Rolling his eyes, the black haired hanyou grunted out "Whatever. First of all, I want you to know one thing. No matter what, you are still my son and nothing can ever change that fact. Yukio, you are part of a pack and my child."

Taking a deep breath, he added "Yukio, you are not being replaced. Forever and always, you will be my firstborn child. Never forget that."

Remaining quiet, the white haired hanyou said nothing as he mulled over the words of his father.

"Secondly, I want to ask permission from you in naming your new sister."

"Permission?" the younger hanyou asked in confusion.

Nodding his head as he stared down at his tea for a moment, Iya slowly took a sip and set the cup back down. Looking his son straight in the eye, he said "Lilly has agreed with me on the name that I wish to call her, however, it is not right to name her without your consent."

Taking a moment to gather his courage, the elder hanyou at last said "I want to name her Kaia."

A soft gasp escaped Yukio's mouth as his muddy brown eyes widened. Anger immediately started rising up in him after his shock was forgotten, but he was forced to remain quiet as his father spoke again.

"I want name our daughter Kaia because I feel in a way it will honor your mother."

Stopping to swallow the lump forming in his throat, Iya pressed on and said "She was special not only to me but you as well. I felt it was the best way to honor her by using her name. Naturally I could not do this without asking you, for it is something that concerns you greatly. I want her to know her brother, to find that she does have a pack that loves her."

Becoming quiet for a few moments, he at last said "Yukio, I know what I ask maybe too much for ..."

"You can use my mother's name."

Surprised by his son's sudden statement, the dog hanyou's surprise slowly slipped away as he softly smiled at the white haired hanyou.

"Thank you, Yukio."

"Whatever." Yukio gruffly muttered. "You should go. If the village catches wind that you are here, not even I can save you."

"I know." Iya answered. Taking one last drink of his tea, he stood and shot a smile at his son, saying "Lilly will be giving birth in the next month. You should come to see your new sister."

"I'll think about it."

"Alright, that's good enough I suppose." the black haired hanyou commented. "Later."

Watching the retreating figure of his father leave the hut, Yukio was left to his thoughts. His ears drooped a bit as thoughts of his mother came to mind, mainly thoughts of the few times he had seen her happy.

"Would you have minded, mother?" he softly asked aloud.

000

000

"I take it your visit ended well enough since you've returned."

Walking towards the Quincy without saying a word, Iya came to a stop and remained solemn for a few moments. Looking over his shoulder at the distant village, he remarked "I'm alive and wasn't caught, so yeah, it went well enough."

"How angry is he with me?"

"A touch is all." Iya answered truthfully. "I told him not to take it out on you, Uryū, that you were only trying to help me out was all. To be truthful, I don't know if he'll accept that."

A light chuckle filled the air for a moment before the Quincy replied "Oh well, it couldn't be helped I suppose. You needed to discuss something with him and it seems you've done so, so the question is now what?"

Turning away from the human and taking a few steps, the hanyou softly said "I return home."

"By the way, I was curious, how the hell did you cover that much ground that fast? You sent me a message only a month ago and I'm certain you had a coronation around that time, so you couldn't possibly have been traveling. So explain how you got here so fast?"

Taking his turn to chuckle, the hanyou turned back to face the Quincy and coolly replied "I had a little help from my mage friends, Ryo of the Wildfire and Tsunade Senju. The two of them and their daughter made my trip possible."

A confused expression passed over the human's face, making the dog hanyou inwardly sigh. "I guess I should better explain."

"The group of mages I once tracked known as The Thirteen had a spell that could transport them over long distances in a flash. This said spell was a spell that created a portal between two points in space. Distance was the key due that one mage alone could only travel perhaps fifty miles at maximum based on their power."

"There is only one survivor from the war with The Thirteen and that is Tsunade Senju. She is Ryo of the Wildfire's mate. She alone has the knowledge of how to create portals."

Seeing a frown on the Quincy's face as he processed the info, Iya smiled and said "I know what your thinking. Alone she could not create a portal for me to here. Well, you are right about that, however, she did not create one alone. Her mate and adopted daughter helped create one that would be opened near here for me. That is how I arrived without you detecting me earlier."

"So that's how you snuck up on me..." Uryū commented mostly to himself.

"Yeah." Iya remarked with a smirk. "Anyways, I'm supposed to return to where the portal was initially opened for me. It's a two way door, so I'll be able to return home through it."

Mulling over the info for a few moments, the Quincy asked "Why didn't they just hold it open till you returned?"

"It would have been far too dangerous to do so. A doorway that leads straight into the heart of the Southern Lands was too big a risk to leave open till I returned. Even if you had guarded it, if you were overrun, the other side would have had little to no warning before the enemy came through."

"Aside from that, Tsunade commented that the spell for creating portals was never meant to be permanent or used over long periods of time. Apparently to maintain the portal, it takes a considerable amount of power. That is why she asked that they hold the portal open only for five minutes upon opening it and then they would close it. Near midnight, they should be opening it up again and will hold it open for me for another five minutes. If I don't make it back, they're to send someone through to search for me and make another attempt to open it tomorrow. I don't plan on missing my opportunity to go home."

Faintly smiling, he added "Regardless, it's much better than flying here over the course of a few weeks and then returning home for another few weeks. Lilly would have skinned me alive if I had missed our first child's birth."

Shaking his head at the hanyou, Uryū shot back "You will probably not return for some time then."

"Probably... Amestris seems to be on edge and it's not likely they'll invite me here anytime soon, not to mention sneaking in will endanger Yukio. Hopefully he can come to me instead one day but that is to be determined."

"I'm sure he will one day."

"Yeah..." Iya softly muttered. Glancing up at the sky, he said "It's nearly time. I need to move along to where the portal will be. Until next time, Uryū."

"Take care Iya. And don't worry about Yukio, I'll be near to keep him straight."

"Right." the hanyou softly replied. With that said, he walked off, leaving the Quincy behind to look back in the direction of the small village.

000

000

"Come on Ichigo, fight me seriously!" Iya yelled while charging at the quarter demon with Ketsaiga swinging wildly.

Skipping backwards out of range of the dog hanyou's attack, Ichigo skid to a stop and raised Zangetsu to parry a full powered blow that made him grunt from the intense strength behind it.

"Damn it Ichigo, you know your Shikai is no match for me! Quit holding back and unleash your Bankai to fight me!" Iya demanded again.

With a push, the quarter demon leapt a few yards backwards and swung his blade down in front of himself. He knew obviously by his friend's aura that the dog hanyou was pissed beyond belief still over his unwillingness to fight seriously.

Evading another slash, Ichigo asked "Do you really want to show up all bloody and cut up from a sparring session with me? You know Orihime and Tsunade would never allow you in to see Lilly and your daughter like that. Just calm down a bit."

Jamming his blade into the ground and wiping his brow, he added "I know you're anxious about Lilly giving birth but this isn't help much."

"I need to work off this energy somehow." the hanyou growled. Ears swiveling, he glanced back towards the keep. Finding no one approaching still, he let out a frustrated growl and swung the blade in the direction of a massive bolder. A beam of white demonic energy shot from the halberd and struck the rock head on.

The rock shattered into millions of shards and large pieces upon contact. With the rubble at last settling, the hanyou released a loud roar and fell to his knees and slammed a heavy fist into the ground.

"Feel better?"

"Not really."

Trying to find the right words, the quarter demon watched his friend pick himself up and return his weapon to it's sheath.

"Listen, I know you're worried but have some faith in Orihime and Tsunade, not to mention your mate. She's strong and will make it through this." Ichigo consoled.

Turning away and taking several deep breaths as he clenched and unclenched his hands, Iya meekly muttered "I know that. I just worry that something will go wrong. If I lost them..."

"You won't. Orihime is there. No matter what, she'll take care of Lilly. The same goes for Tsunade too. Those two are the best healer mages in Japan and won't let anything happen to her, so quit worrying so much."

Knowing he needed to add something, he attempted to happily say "This is a day of celebration."

The dog hanyou looked to his long time friend and faintly chuckled. "You suck at attempting to promote happiness. But I get the idea."

"That's all I ask."

"LORD IYA!"

Rapid footsteps and a child like voice continued to call out for the Lord of the South. The pair soon found the owner of the voice belonged to the adopted daughter of Tsunade and Ryo, the small neko child named May Chang.

Bounding to the pair, she at last came to a stop and was slightly out of breath. Regaining herself, she smiled great big and proudly declared "Lord Iya, Momma and Orihime said that Lady Lilly has delivered and you can come see them!"

The news slowly sunk into the dog hanyou's mind and his immediate reaction was his eyes widened a touch. A ghost of a smile graced his face as all the worry in his mind passed. "Thank you, May."

With that said, Iya bolted for the keep at top speed, leaving Ichigo and May behind.

Shaking his head, Ichigo muttered "I hope I'm not like him when it comes that time for me."

000

000

Iya quickly found his way to the room that he shared with his beloved mate. Stopping at the door to calm himself a bit, he entered into the room through the heavy oak door.

Walking in, he saw his mate being attended to by both Orihime and Tsunade. The two were finishing up getting her comfortable.

Slowly moving to the bed, he saw his mate laying in the bed with their new daughter curled up in her arms. Lilly seemed to have a tired but content look on her face as she gently rocked their first child and hummed softly.

Looking up, Lilly smiled at him. "Iya, meet your daughter, Kaia."

Reaching out and carefully cradling his new daughter, Iya stared down at the small child. Her hair was black like his and her mother's. Small neko ears tweaked on the babe's head and a black fur covered tail peeked out from the bundle that the child was wrapped up in. The little girl face scrunched up for a second and a pair of amber eyes stared up at him for a moment. A small coo came from her as the child smiled up at her father.

Tears slid down Iya's cheeks as he couldn't explain how he felt upon seeing his daughter for the first time. Inclining his head, he gently kissed her head and whispered "Welcome to the world, Kaia."

000

000

"Lord Iya, since you have become Lord of the Southern Lands over five years ago, things have since quieted within the region." Sensho stated as she read from her report. Making sure to lean forward to expose some of her cleavage in the top she had specifically worn for the meeting, she continued on in a purring tone "There have been few outbreaks of issues this year, with most coming from the neko clans sadly."

Lazily sitting in the corner, Ichigo fought to keep awake. "_I hate these damn boring yearly reports. Iya should have just said screw it and asked if we had any new issues or not. It's so freaking boring to sit here and listen to Sensho prattle on about this and that while doing her best to appeal to Iya. As if he would ever leave Lilly for her..._"

Listening to his head general continue on, Iya felt something strange within himself that he couldn't place his finger on. "_What is up with me today? Ever since this morning I felt something was off but I still can't figure out what. And for some reason, Sensho's damn attempts to catch my attention is actually working. Why the hell is my body responding? I always ignore her but not today? What the hell is up with ..._"

The dog hanyou shifted in his seat as he listened to the general continue on with her report and openly flirt with him. The longer he sat, the more uncomfortable he felt. His body was betraying him at every turn when he saw her making advances on him. Typically he would ignore her attempts to get a rise out of him, however, today he could feel himself actually staring more at what she was doing and his body responding in ways he knew it shouldn't. It was like his body had a mind of it's own and knew what it wanted, which frightened him a bit though his self-control was still in firm control.

"_What the hell is wrong with ... Wait, no, has it already been fifteen years! Well fuck..._"

"... and the panther tribe seems content to ..." Sensho continued only to suddenly see the Southern Lord raise his hand to silence her.

"General, we will continue this in a day or two. If you excuse me, something has come up." Iya briskly stated as he stood up.

Confused by the actions of the object of her desire, the demoness stood herself and asked "What is more important than our yearly status updates, my lord?"

"Never mind that. We will continue at another time. Good day, General."

"But my lord, I don't understand. There is nothing that I know of today that should take precedence over this meeting. It was worked out so we would not be disturbed at all and that should anything come up that things would be taken care of. Please, explain to me what is so pressing that we must cut this short ..."

"General Sensho..." Iya lowly growled and fought his inner self for control. Refraining from yelling, he grit out "Leave now."

Still confused, the general was about to argue back when she was told by the hanyou in a tone that could kill "You have two options. Walk out the door or I will throw you out the window."

The demoness immediately realized how serious he was and opted to not press any further. A quick bow and a "Till then my lord" was all she said before hastily retreating from the room to leave only the hanyou and quarter demon alone.

"Uh, what was that all about?" Ichigo spoke up. His boredom had been cured the moment Iya had started telling the general to get out, though he noted the major change in attitude.

Iya ignored his friend for a moment as he pinched the bride of his nose and took a few deep breaths. His demon blood was roaring to let it take more control from him but he tamped down those sensations. Muddy brown eyes slid over to Ketsaiga that sat nearby but he resisted the urge to pick up the sword for the moment.

"_I'm not that far gone yet. Just calm down. No need to get worked up. There is still time._"

"Never mind that." the dog hanyou coolly remarked. "I need you to do me a favor. Go fetch Lilly and bring her back to our room. Tell her to leave Kaia with Momo for a while."

Scowl becoming more dominate on his face, Ichigo started to ask a question but noted the serious look engraved into the hanyou's features. Sighing as he stood and picked up his zanpakutō and placed it on his back like always, he muttered "Fine, I'll do it."

The moody quarter demon left the room immediately, leaving the dog hanyou alone to try and sort himself out. Taking several deep breaths and managing to calm his mind a bit, he picked up Ketsaiga and slid it into his obi sash. "Alright, I need to get moving. I just pray she doesn't freak out about this."

000

000

Hand in hand with her young daughter in tow, Lilly walked along through the now beautiful gardens of the Southern Keep. After Iya had brought her to the keep, she had personally started a pet project of creating a set of gardens like the Western Stronghold had. She had succeeded at long last and loved walking in the gardens often with Iya and their ever growing daughter.

Feeling her arm swinging a bit, she glanced down at her daughter and smiled. Kaia was a bustling child for being five and was often into several things, though she easily was swayed back to behaving herself. Her hair reached down to her calves in length and she wore a beautiful jade colored kimono with a purple sash. The child looked up at her mother and smiled brightly with the sun reflecting off her amber eyes.

"Momma, this is so much fun. I love coming here." the little girl's voice practically sang.

Chuckling at her daughters reaction, Lilly warmly replied "I love it here too, Kaia. This is probably my favorite spot in the keep."

"I wish Poppa could have come for a walk with us."

"I know but he had a meeting dear. Don't worry, he'll go with us on a walk soon." the neko consoled.

"Really?" Kaia asked with happiness beaming from every pore in her body.

Smiling back at her daughter, the neko nodded her head. The child instantly became giddy and let go of her mother's hand to twirl around happily. Her tail wasn't wrapped tightly around her body like her mother so often done, allowing it to fly through the air and unintentionally whack her mother's hip.

Watching Kaia and feeling her heart flutter at the fact her child was so happy, Lilly whispered within her mind "_I was worried living here she wouldn't be happy but it seems things are working out for us._"

Stopping her spinning due that she was a touch dizzy, the neko child regained her balance as she clung to her mother's knees. Looking up, she smiled happily.

About to move on, Lilly suddenly heard someone approaching fast. She sniffed the air and instantly knew who it was without looking.

"What's the rush, Ichigo?" she softly asked while turning around to face her mate's bodyguard.

"Strawberry!" Kaia cried out and ran to the quarter demon. Like always, she wrapped his leg in a hug and buried her face up against it.

Sweat dropping and irked at the nickname she had given him, Ichigo settled and reached down and rustled her hair. "Hey there midget."

Smiling up at the quarter demon, the neko child brightly replied "I'm just a kid, so I can't help being short."

"Yeah, well you don't seem to have a problem calling me a strawberry."

"But that's what your name means silly!" the little girl stated matter a factly.

Lilly couldn't help but giggle at the pair and shook her head. Deciding to end the squabble, she said "Kaia, that's enough. I'm sure Ichigo is here for a reason, or am I wrong?"

"Yeah..." Ichigo commented as he reached up and started rubbing the back of his head. "Iya wants me to bring you to him. He asked us to drop Kaia off with Momo for the time being also."

"What is so important that he needs me right now?" Lilly questioned.

Shrugging as he felt Kaia release him, the quarter demon remarked "No clue. He stopped the meeting he was in and more or less told General Sensho to get out or he'd throw her out. Then he sent me out to fetch you for some reason. If you ask me, he's acting weird."

Pondering over the actions of her mate for a moment, the neko inwardly sighed and said "Tell him I'll come back soon but for the moment I promised Kaia to take her for a walk through the gardens this morning. He can wait I'm sure."

"Uh, he seemed rather insistent I brought you back. Kind of like an order rather than a request."

"Then tell him I declared his order invalid and would return on my own. Whatever has him wound up can wait till we're done with our walk."

"I guess I'll go tell him then." Ichigo commented with uncertainty in his voice. "I have a feeling he won't like this."

Throwing a shrug as a response, Lilly simply said "He'll get over it."

Heavily sighing, the quarter demon remarked "What a pain in the ..."

Finding a fierce glare coming from the neko hanyou, he then remembered the small child was in his presence and the memory of the last time he cursed still fresh in his mind. "_She beat the hell out of me that time. Better think of something else._"

"... butt."

The glare that threatened to kill him lessened as the neko reached out and took her daughter's hand and smiled at her. "Let's go, Kaia."

"Bye Strawberry!"

"Bye midget..." Ichigo said in a deflated tone.

000

000

Pacing back and forth, Iya felt his demon blood demanding that he give in to it. He merely pushed aside the strong will to give in and stopped his pacing to look out the window for a moment.

"_It feels worse than last time. Then again, I was used to cooping myself up and I gave in last time due to Lilly. I indulged in releasing it and now because I did it feels far worse. I only pray she understands and helps me with this again. It's so demanding of her I know but I don't have much ..._"

His thoughts were interrupted as the door to his room opened up. He quickly turned expecting to find his mate standing there only to find his bodyguard instead.

Temper getting the better of him, Iya snarled out "Where is she!"

"Lilly is taking a walk in the gardens with Kaia. She promised her that she'd take a walk with her this morning and won't come until they are done." Ichigo impassively commented.

Clenching his hands into tight fists to the point his claws dug into his palms and drew blood, the dog hanyou felt his body tremble from how he felt. Forcing his temper back in check by taking several deep breaths and pushing his demon blood back down, he noted that the quarter demon was staring at him with concern on his face.

"What's up with you? You're acting short tempered and very easily agitated. That's not like you at all. I'm not running my ass off over something you won't even explain. Spill your guts on what's bugging you so much you want Lilly here." Ichigo demanded in a stern tone.

Several responses ran through the mind of the dog hanyou but none seemed appropriate. At last, he let out a heavy sigh and grunted out "Just take a whiff of my scent and you'll figure it out."

"_What the hell is he going on about now?_" the quarter demon pondered. Shrugging, he sniffed the air from the room. The scent of the dog hanyou, along with his mate and their child mainly filled the room, as well as the scent of roses that the male hanyou had brought with him from the Western Stronghold. He quickly isolated the dog hanyou's freshest scent and frowned.

"_It's off... His normal woods and cinnamon scent seems spiced. I reminds me of when Orihime goes into heat... Oh... That explains his moodiness._ "

"I take it that you've figured it out finally?"

Woken from his thoughts, Ichigo looked away for a moment and said "Yeah... It has been fifteen years, hasn't it?"

"As bad I hate to say it, yes, it has been." Iya muttered. "I only have two choices in the matter. I could lay low for three days but with everything going on, I could never do it."

Sighing, he wryly added "Being the Lord of the South rarely affords such luxuries..."

Turning away from his friend, he coolly said "My only other option is to ask Lilly for help. However, I cannot force such a thing on her a second time. I want to ask her before I lose more of my sanity if she will help. That's why it's important that she comes back here soon. I can hold on till sunset for certain but the sooner I talk with her the better."

Facing Ichigo again, Iya softly said "Please, go ask her again. Be discreet about it as possible."

"Why not let me tell her the truth?"

"I want to personally. I told her once that I go in heat every fifteen years, but it has been a while since I told her that to be honest. Fifteen years to be exact." the hanyou said with a chuckle.

"Alright, I guess I'll convince her, somehow. I'll try to hurry." Ichigo remarked. Turning away, he got to the door but threw a quick glance over his shoulder, saying "I'll try to make sure no one disturbs you two the rest of the day. It will be a pain in the ass I'm sure but I'll make sure everyone understands you're not to be disturbed."

Flashing a fanged smile, the dog hanyou replied "Thanks."

000

000

"Momma, look, a flower crown!" Kaia cheerfully declared.

Cracking a jade eye open to find her daughter in front of her and presenting her with a present, Lilly smiled. Reaching out, she took the crown and placed it upon her daughter's head.

"You look like a princess." Lilly sweetly said with a touch of drowsiness in her voice.

"I made you one too Momma!" the child exclaimed as she presented another from behind her back. Careful of her mother's ears, she slid it onto her head and smiled happily. "Now we both look like princesses!"

Laughing softly at the enthusiasm of her child, the neko reached out and pulled her daughter into her lap. She hugged her tightly to her body and leaned back against the oak tree she had been napping under. Closing her eyes, she inhaled her daughter's scent of jasmine. It was a scent she could never forget, no matter how many years passed.

"Can we stay out here all day?"

Opening her eyes to see her daughter inclining her head back to look up at her face, the neko felt her heart melt. "Let me think about it."

"Yay!" Kaia squealed. Jumping up, she ran back towards the flower beds and started looking through them for more flowers to make a bouquet.

Closing her eyes and leaning back against the trunk of the tree again, Lilly let out a soft sigh of contentment. The sun was concealed by the shade of the tree and the days had yet to get too hot during this spring, so it was just right for lounging about.

A familiar presence approaching slowly made her open her eyes. She had to keep from letting out a sigh due that it was the man she had sent away earlier.

"What is it now Ichigo?"

Ichigo had stopped a few yards away and was still inwardly trying to decide how to approach Lilly with the news Iya had given him without outright telling her. Racking his brain, he thought back to the last time his friend had gone in heat and tried to think of anything from that experience that would help him.

"_It was a jumble that day of emotions and nothing clearly sticks out from my conversation with her at that point and time. Damn, what do I do?_"

"Well?" Lilly pressed in a bored tone. "I know Iya sent you back, so what is his reasoning?"

At last an idea came to mind for the quarter demon as he gruffly said "He's being a bit moody today. The last time he was this bad off was fifteen years ago, right before you two mated. I mean, he's grouchy, short tempered, and has a bad habit of demanding things like someone leave him alone or bring you to him."

Lilly carefully listened to all of Ichigo's words and frowned at them. "_Fifteen years ago? Iya was that way then but it was because of his heat. Wait, his heat!_"

Mentally face palming, the neko muttered "_Of course, it's been fifteen years since his last heat. He even told me specifically afterwards that he goes into heat every fifteen years._"

The neko's ears slightly drooped as she realized how difficult a situation her mate was in. "_He asked for me to come to him, yet I turned him down. I should have known something was wrong._"

Mind made up, she stood and smoothed out her forest green kimono. It had her mate's true form embroidered into the back, symbolizing whose mate she was and that she was the Lady of the Southern Lands.

"Ichigo, can I trust you to take Kaia to Momo?"

"Yeah, I can watch the kid." the quarter demon responded evenly.

Nodding her head, she softly said "Thank you."

Turning away, she moved to the flower bed where her daughter was busily picking flowers. The small child already had a bouquet picked but wasn't finished yet.

"Kaia."

Kaia immediately turned towards her mother and ran up to her. Kneeling, Lilly embraced her daughter and softly said "Kaia, mommy has to go do something till morning. Ichigo is going to take you to Momo in a while to stay the night. Please be a good girl, okay?"

"But Momma, I want to spend the day with you and Poppa." the child whined.

Lilly felt her heart breaking but knew in Iya's current condition he couldn't be near their child, though she knew he would not harm their daughter in any way or form. "_I have faith in him._"

"I know Kaia, sweetie, but this is important. Can you be a big girl for mommy?" she softly challenged.

Not one to back down, Kaia nodded her head slightly. It was obvious she wasn't a fan of this challenge, but she accepted her plight. "I can Momma. I love you."

"I love you too, Kaia. Be a good girl for Ichigo and Momo. I promise I will come get you in the morning with your Poppa."

Brightening a bit, the neko child nodded her head and said "I will be!"

"Good girl." Lilly said with a smile. Placing a kiss on her daughter's head, she stood and walked back to the quarter demon. Stopping for a moment, she asked "Do you know where Orihime is?"

Irked at the question but knowing she had a good reason, Ichigo replied "I think she's helping Tsunade and Ryo with something in their wing."

"Thank you. I promise, I won't take long."

With that, the neko made the trek back into the keep, her mind determined to make things right with her mate by surprising him.

000

000

Over an hour had passed since Ichigo had left him and Iya noted that the sun was already starting it's descent through the sky, making it afternoon. He felt his mind and body both on edge and had resorted to holding onto Ketsaiga at long last to keep himself calm and to more or less put his mind at ease knowing that the blade wouldn't let him outright transform.

"_Even now I can't do it alone. Not that I mind, Ketsaiga has always been my companion._"

Taking in several deep breaths, the hanyou tried to force himself to settle. Meditation had failed earlier and ended up with him punching the wall. A small place remained where he had and made him only grumble due that he knew the damage would need fixed later on and his mate was sure to find it and berate him over it.

Mind circling back to his mate, he felt his demon blood warming at the thought of her beneath his frame as he would ...

"No." he growled, forcing his mind away from the subject.

He proceeded over to the window and stared out at the sky. The sun was beginning to descend but there was plenty of light left. He noticed also that storm clouds were on the horizon and from the looks of them they seemed to give warning to a severe storm coming.

"_We could use rain._"

Ears swiveling at the sound of a knock at the door, he remained where he stood but felt anxiousness building within him. He forced himself not to turn as the door opened and then shut behind his mate. It was easy for him to identify it was her due to the sound of her steps, the burst of raspberry scent in the room, and just her very aura.

"Iya."

Not turning due that he felt he couldn't trust himself at the moment, he softly replied "Lilly."

"I know why you asked for me earlier."

"I see Ichigo isn't good at keeping secrets." he muttered.

Watching her mate with soft jade eyes, Lilly smiled and said "He didn't outright tell me you were in heat. Ichigo actually didn't say you were in heat, just hinted at it well enough that I remembered something you had told me long ago. I'm truly sorry for not ..."

"Don't." Iya hushed her a touch roughly. Regretting it, he softly said "I'm sorry. As you might recall, it's more difficult for me to contain my emotions at this point. You have nothing to apologize for. You didn't know."

"Why won't you look at me?"

Inhaling deeply and keeping his hands firmly attached to Ketsaiga that was in his arms, Iya turned and saw his mate smiling at him. Just her bare scent alone was making his demon blood scream to take her, however his rational mind kept the urges at bay.

Forcing his mind to calm itself, he softly said "Lilly, fifteen years ago, you made a decision to help me with my heat. Do you regret it?"

Taken back by her mate's question, Lilly felt herself inwardly angered but remained indifferent on the outside. In a calm voice, she replied "No."

"Back then..." Iya began but was cut off by his mate.

"Back then I helped you because I loved you and was willing to do anything I could to help you."

Moving closer to her mate deliberately slowly, she tenderly added "Iya, I still love you and would do anything for you. You are in heat and I am here to help you. If you were worried I wouldn't help because the situation is different this time then you were wrong. We are mates and that is something that will never change. No matter what comes at us Iya, I will stand by your side, through the good and the bad. Please never doubt that."

A bit shocked by Lilly's declaration, Iya let out a low chuckle. "I see. I worry too much, right?"

"Indeed." the neko said mockingly of the dog hanyou's older brother.

Taking a sniff of the air and finding that it was saturating with his mate's scent, he discovered her scent revealed she was fertile and made him hesitant. Woken from his thoughts by seeing his mate undoing her obi and sliding open her kimono to reveal a something red, Iya felt himself growing more and more aroused.

With little effort, Lilly shrugged her kimono off completely to reveal she was wearing a red satin corset and thong underwear that she had borrowed from Orihime. It was not something she owned herself, though Kagome had asked her if she had liked the looks of it originally and she had simply shied away from it. However, to make up for her earlier behavior, the neko decided to do something outside of the norm for her mate and try out this outfit that the bobcat mage had willingly let her borrow. It was one that Orihime told her drove Ichigo insane with desire and hoped would help do the same for Iya.

Lips dry and breath panting, Iya couldn't help but feel his desire burning him alive. Lilly was now directly in front of him with her eyes filled with desire for him. Her tail had wrapped around his backside and pulled at him to bring him closer to her. His heat was scorching him alive though his worry over the fact he knew she was fertile nagged him. At last, his last restraint of resistance gave way.

Setting Ketsaiga aside, he closed the gap between himself and his mate and passionately kissed her, effectively claiming her lips. Pulling back, he possessively whispered "Mine."

"And mine." Lilly replied with just as fiercely possessive voice.

000

000

"I pray that the child your mate is giving birth to is an heir, Lord Iya."

Inwardly angered by the panther clan head, Iya took a deep breath and replied "It is no concern of yours if my mate gives birth to a son or a daughter, Lady Haru."

"You have no heir currently, which is something you must have in case you have an untimely death." Haru commented. Flicking her calf length white hair over her shoulder, the demoness stared at him expectantly for a moment. She had pointed ears poking out from the long hair and a slim figure that hid her true power. A midnight blue yukata fit her form perfectly while a white obi with a midnight blue cord held her outfit closed. A white fur shoal was wrapped around her shoulders and gave her a royal look. Twitching slightly behind her was a dark blue colored fur tail.

"Yukio is my heir, as is Kaia." Iya retorted.

"But they are not true heirs of the Southern Lands. Heirs are meant to be boys, and besides, your eldest son cannot be your heir due to his affiliation with that certain group. You do realize you need one, hence why the council keeps reminding you of that fact. Your reign is only six years in and you have yet to produce one." the demoness argued back.

"_What I'd give to strangle this woman... At least she's not as annoying as General Sensho._" the dog hanyou grumbled within his mind.

"Lord Iya!"

Opening his eyes to find May in front of him, the hanyou looked over her for a moment. She had grown greatly in six years time and was in the transition of becoming a young lady. Her childish looks had faded a bit and she was now two feet taller than when they had first met. Instead of her customary buns, she had opted with a ponytail for while aiding her mother and Orihime. Her clothing was the same though some curves were starting to show in her growing body.

"Is Lilly alright?" Iya softly asked with a hint of concern.

Nodding her head with a large grin plastered to her face, May replied "Yep! She's doing just fine. You can come in now. I'll go get Kaia too."

Throwing a quick glance at the panther demoness, Iya said "Excuse me, Lady Haru."

Entering into the room he shared with his mate, the dog hanyou felt anxious. "_That damn heat left me with no choice and here we are from the results. Not that I regret one bit of it._"

Lilly lay content in their bed with exhausted look etched into her expression. She was nursing their new born child with a slight smile.

"She did well." Tsunade commented as she came up beside the dog hanyou. "Congratulations, you have another daughter."

"Thanks." Iya warmly replied. Moving on, he sat down next to his mate. She smiled up at him and brought the child away from her breast.

"She's beautiful." the dog hanyou commented with a smile. A stray tear rolled down his cheek as he took his second daughter from his mate and held her for a few moments.

The child had silver hair mixed with black, giving her a peppered look. Triangular dog ears twitched ever so slightly while squinted eyes opened to reveal sky blue eyes staring up at her father. A soft gurgle with a smile was all that it took for the dog hanyou to softly chuckle.

"What is her name?" Orihime asked as she came up beside the family.

Not even needing a moment to think, Lilly smiled and replied "Ryoko."

The door suddenly opened to reveal Kaia being escorted by May. The young hanyou bounded over to her parent's bed and crawled up on it to look at her new sister. She instantly smiled when the baby cooed at her with a toothless grin.

"Yay, sister came!" Kaia happily declared.

Cringing lightly, Ryoko started crying loudly with her small hands balled up and drawn into her body. The neko child immediately recoiled and became distressed.

"It's alright Kaia." Lilly softly comforted her daughter. "You did nothing wrong. Just be a little quieter, okay? Ryoko is still getting used to everything around her."

Kaia nodded her head gently as she heard her sister settle due to her father rocking her. She naturally became entranced with the babe that was being rocked in her father's arms.

"Was I that small once?"

"You were." Iya warmly commented. "When you were born, I rocked you to sleep and comforted you the same way."

Timidly, the young neko asked "Can I hold her?"

Glancing between one another, the two mates at long last nodded to one another.

"Sit down on the bed first Kaia." Lilly instructed.

Doing so, the young child sat down. Carefully, her father helped her figure out how to hold her sister in her arms, being mindful to cradle the new child's neck and head. After a few moments of working it out, the babe lay alone in the young neko's arms.

"She's so peaceful looking." Kaia commented.

Smiling at his daughter, Iya looked from the two sisters to his mate and couldn't help but feel his heart ready to burst. "_My pack is growing..._"

000

000

"Remember to pick plenty of pretty flowers for your mother." Iya called to his three children.

Being forcefully dragged along, Yukio let out a heavy sigh of surrender. "_Why the hell am I here again? Oh yeah, he practically begged me to come and then these two made me come out here._"

"Brother Yukio, hurry up!" an eight year old Kaia called out with a brilliant grin.

"Yeah, hurry up Brother Yukio!" a two year old Ryoko declared happily.

Deciding to go along and enjoy himself, the white haired hanyou allowed his sisters to continue dragging him into the field of flowers.

Chuckling inwardly and smiling proudly at his three children, Iya felt his heart swell at the sight of the three together. "_If eight years ago someone had told me I would become the Lord of the Southern Lands, I would have laughed at them. Had I known I would also have two children with Lilly, I would have probably said they were joking. And lastly, had they told me that Yukio would accept them and actually form bonds with them, I'd have sworn that person was insane._"

"_Eight years ago this whole field was a bloody battlefield with corpses strewn everywhere. It's hard to believe that much time has passed and in a battlefield's place a field of flowers has grown up. I suppose it is true that time can heal wounds and bring those you love together as a pack._"

"Yo Iya."

Turning to find Ichigo had walked up behind him with his hands by his side and a slightly warm expression on his face, Iya smiled back and asked "Are they done?"

"Yeah, everything went alright. Anytime you're ready." the quarter demon responded.

Nodding his head, the hanyou returned his vision to the field of three occupants. The two girls were making flower crowns and picking a bouquet. The bouquet was being held by Yukio more than them since he was not really doing much other than pointing out flowers on occasion to the pair that seemed to help the color scheme.

"Kaia, Ryoko, Yukio, let's go. We can see your mother now."

Perking up and on their feet instantly, the two girls excitedly pulled Yukio back to his feet and grabbed the items they had created. With their brother's help, they started racing back to their father and the quarter demon beside of him.

"We made Momma a crown and our new brother one too! See how pretty it is Strawberry!" Kaia declared with a brilliant smile as she showed the crown to the quarter demon.

Sweat dropping and throwing a slight glare at the white haired hanyou that was chuckling, Ichigo replied "That's nice, midget."

"Let's head back. Why not make it a quick ride." Iya stated as he moved apart from the group a bit.

Body glowing with a light blue aura, the dog hanyou let out a loud howl as he was engulfed in his aura and then a massive cloud of white smoke. Erupting from the smoke in the air was a massive black dog that had sharp fangs poking out of it's mouth, massive sharp clawed feet, dense black fur, and frosty steam slipping out of it's jaws.

"Yay Inu Poppa!" Ryoko squealed.

Sweat dropping at the two girls that marveled at their father's transformation, Ichigo and Yukio shook their heads and picked up the two children. With a single leap, each landed onto the large black dog's back.

With the children situated, Ichigo called out "We're ready Iya."

A simple grunt came from the dog as it leapt into the air and raced towards the nearby stone keep that symbolized the power of the Southern Lands. They had not been that far from the keep but it was far enough for the large dog to take flight and circle around the keep twice before landing in the courtyard.

His passengers disembarked, the large dog reverted back to his hanyou form and smiled at the pair of sparkle eyed children.

"Let's go see your mother." he declared warmly and led the group of four into the keep.

000

000

"He's so cute, Lilly." May commented as she helped readjust the neko hanyou's pillows to make her more comfortable. In two years time, she had matured more and had become a fine looking young woman. Her form had grown a bit in height and petit body had filled out a bit, giving her more curves that seemed to make many men's heads turn. Like always when helping with births, she had her hair pulled back into a ponytail.

Forcing a smile to her face, Lilly softly replied "Thanks."

"Let her be, May. She needs her rest." Tsunade stated with a soft, but firm tone. "Do you need anything, Lilly?"

Shaking her head gently, the neko stared down at her son within her arms and said "No, other than my mate and daughters."

"They'll be along soon." Orihime chirped. "I sent Ichigo when we were almost done."

"Good." Lilly resignedly said as she leaned back into the pillows. Closing her eyes, she felt sleep threatening to take her away, however, she was dragged back to the world of the waking by the sound of the door opening.

"Momma!" an excited pair of hanyou cried out as they burst into the room. They stopped in front of the bed when a stern looking Tsunade blocked their path.

Holding up her index finger, the dog demoness leaned down and quietly said "Try to be good and use your inside voices. Your momma is a bit tired."

Understanding, Kaia and Ryoko nodded and proceeded forward to the edge of the bed. Looking up, they saw their mother smile down at them and pat the edge of the bed. The two clambered on and were careful not to sit on their mother's tail that swished back and forth from time to time.

Smiling brightly at their mother, the two presented her with the bouquet of flowers they had picked and a flower crown they had made with Yukio's help.

"We thought you might like these Momma." Kaia shyly said. Ryoko joined in by nodding her head with a grin on her face.

Smiling at both daughters, she took the flowers with one hand and warmly replied "Thank you, both of you. You're just in time to meet your new brother."

Inching forward, the two girls looked carefully at their newly born sibling. The small boy had black hair with red bangs that resembled his mother's hair. A black fur tail poked out from the blanket that wrapped him up and neko ears tweaked on his head. Yawning, he slowly opened his eyes to reveal chocolate colored eyes.

Moving up to beside the bed while the girls excitedly looked over their brother, Iya smiled down at his mate. She reached out with one hand and took his own within hers.

"The heir they requested." Lilly sharply commented with a smirk.

Chuckling himself, Iya shook his head, saying "I have four heirs, not one."

Finding his mate offering their son to him, he picked up the bundle that contained their newest child and held him tightly against his body. The boy smiled at his father for a moment before his eyes closed yet again.

"Makoto, welcome to this world. I hope you know how much your pack loves you." Iya warmly said.

Looking back at all of his friends and family, the dog hanyou smiled and softly whispered in his mind "_We have the peace I have so long desired. When the darkness seemed ready to swallow us into the twilight, we found our pathway back to the dawn._"

**Thanks everyone for reading the chapter.**

**Now then, as promised, my little secret. This isn't the end. Originally, this series was to end here, however, with help from my mate, I have a new addition to this story to complete. So surprise, there is another sequel! Seriously though, that's the end of the line with it. It will take me some time to work on it and I want to try and work out all the details, so do be patient with me. Keep your eyes open because I will most likely start to publish it either in May or Jun. Probably June, but we'll see. At any rate, I hope to see all of you there!**

**Btw, if you could do me a kind favor and review to let me know what you think of the chapter, I'd appreciate it. Till next time, enjoy!**


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